Dragonmaster
by Maverickmage
Summary: Ranma has been placed into the world of Lunar Silver Star Story Complete. When Ranma meets with Alex and his gang, who knows what will happen. But one things for sure, there's going to be a lot of adventure in store.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and LunarSSSC belongs to Working Designs.

DRAGONMASTER

-Prologue-

"Ranma you baka!"

"Airen go on date yes?"

"Ranchan you jackass, come over here!"

"Ranma darling, leave those harlots and come to me. HOHOHOHOHO"

"Foul sorcerer, release my pig-tailed goddess and fierce tigress Akane from your spells!"

"Ranma you womanizer! How dare you lead Shampoo on."

"Ranma because of you I've seen hell!"

And so another common day in Nerima has passed.

"Hey I'm home." a disgruntled Ranma-chan walked throuh the door of the Tendo residence. Her

clothes were in tatters and she sported bruises all over her body. "Do you have any hot water Kasumi?"

"Why yes I do. Here you go Ranma." Kasumi replied with her usual cheery facade. "Are you all 

right Ranma?"

"Yeah nothing like I never faced before. I mean this is basically my life right?"replied

Ranma with a cheery smile. As he turns around to leave, out of everyone's sight, her smile drops

off and is replaced by one of tiredness and saddness. 

Kasumi watches Ranma trudge upstairs with a small frown on her face and a look of sadness

is seen in her eyes. Also a look of understanding passes before her eyes. As she knows how it feels

to be ignored, and just be taken advantage of. To not be able to follow your dreams. Forced to hobble

when you could be flying.

-Dinner Time-

"Ranma you idiot!"screams Akane. "Why won't you eat my food. It's not that bad."

"Damn Akane! I don't want to be poisoned! Why don't you try your own cooking?" shouts back

Ranma refusing to eat the food(Which seems to be moving on its own) layed out before him.

"Ranma no baka!" and Ranma is pounded through the floor by the appearance of the Mallet.

Later at night, Ranma is lying ont the roof, the only place he isn't disturbed, except by

Kodachi once in a while. "Man, I thought everything would have calmed down after Saffron and the 

wedding incident, but everything just returned to normal. Sure Shampoo and Ucchan backed off after 

ruining the wedding, but started again."

Lying there looking up into the star filled sky, a wave of depression washes over Ranma. He 

sees a star far off and wishes with all his soul that he could be where he is loved, where the hand

of friendship reaches out, where he is needed. But the part that he wants the most, he says it out 

loud in a voice filled with sadness that one so young should not have experienced "I wish i could 

be happy."

Shaking his head, Ranma walks off thinking of the foolishness of wishing to a star. And he is 

right, the stars are but an inanimate object in space unable to listen to your desires, much less

grant them. But someone does hear, across time and space in a land long forgotten and works to grant 

his wish.

Unknown to Ranma he was heard. Kasumi and Nodoka standing on the balcony heard his cry for 

happiness. And tears filled their eyes at the sadness Ranma displayed.

To be continued.

I know there wasn't any crossover in this part but I'm coming to it. Please e-mail or comment on 

this story. Everything is welcome even flames(just explain why your flaming.) My e-mail adress

is Maverickmage@hotmail.com and just keep in mind that this is my first Fanfic.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2 and all the credit goes to Rumiko Takahashi for this.

I do not own LunarSSSC and all the credit goes to Working Designs For this.

CHAPTER 1

In your dreams,Instantly we see it

magical thoughts....the time to grow and be it

then everything is pinned on a hope.

All things are real

unless you dream they're not.Let rise the dreams of your heart,

that innocent youth

In your dreams,careless and kind.

love is the plot

carried on wings of hopeFree to roam the breeze in love

only when two

Each of our soulsbrilliantly shine as one.....

intertwine, when we do.

We see Akane lugging a buketful of ice water to Ranma's bedroom. "Ranma!It's time to go to school! Wake up!" ::SPLASH:: 

"Growf?" The (now-soaking) Genma-panda jerks awake. [What is the meaning of this girl!] 

"Oops sorry Mr. Saotome. Do you know where Ranma is? We have to go to school." At seeingGenma's usual clueless look, Akane storms off. Baka where the hell is he? Making me bring the heavy bucket up here. Insesitive jerk! Probably at Ucchan or with that Chinese bimbo! As Akane's anger starts to rise she spasmodically shout "Ranma no baka!"

***

"Noah!Come over here quick!"

"What is it? Are you hurt? Did you slip? Is Alex hurt?" Noah rambles on and on.

"Noah get a hold of your self. I'm not hurt, but look! I found this boy lying here on the ground. Quickly, help me move him back to our house." They move the pig-tailed boy to their house and lay him on a bed. 

Man ::YAWN:: that was good night sleep. Akane didn't wake me up with that damn bucket of hers. As Ranma becomes fully awake, his brain sees that there is something wrong, not right about where he is. Then he sees two large strange people standing next to his bed. {Hmmm nice looking people. I hope popdoesn't owe them any money.............. HUH!!!!! What the hell are these people doing here?} "Ummm hello." [What the heck. Why does my voice sound so squeaky? And why are they so big?]

"Hello there little boy. What is your name?"

"I'm Saotome Ranma of the Saotome branch of Anything Goes Martial Arts."replies Ranma proudly. "Ummm is this Japan?" Little boy?

"Japan? I never heard of a place called Japan. This place is called Burg."

Hmm Burg. Never heard of the place. Damn what the heck happened. "Ummmm is there a restroom here?" Ranma asked. I need to be alone for a while to think

"Why yes, go down the hall here and it's the first door on your left." My that sure is a strange boy. As she sees Ranma trudge down the hallway she whispers to Noah,"Don't you think there is something different about this boy?"

"Why I believe you're right Sarah. There seems to be something wierd about him. But not in a bad sort of way." repies Noah. Then he asks out of the blue, "Ummm doesn't Luna take a bath around this time of day?"

***

"The first door on the left."Ranma mumbles to himself. Damn this door is big. Is this world filled with giants or someting? Ranma opens the door and walks in deep in thought, completely missing the fact that a cute blue-haired girl around the age of five taking a bath. As he looks into the mirror, he sees with a shock that he looks to be five years old again. What the heck?

"AHHHHH!!!" Ranma's contemplation is broken by the words that brings back all the tender memories he has of Akane. "PERVERT!!!"

Ranma looks around and sees a enraged(though cute) towel wrapped girl stompping toward him with what appears to be a very blunt and very heavy toilet. Looking at this, the first thought to pass through his head is Kami-sama, why is it always violent chicks! The next thought being This is going to hurt. then the third One chance left!And Ranma proves that he is Genma's son by perfecting the Crouching Tiger Attack.

***

"Hi mom, I'm home." Alex called out as he entered his house. He sees his parents looking at the hallway leading to the bathroom as if they're expecting something. Then all of a sudden he hears Luna scream from the bathroom. As he rushes to the site, he sees Luna holding a toilet above a repeatedly bowing pig-tailed boy, then all of a sudden the towel around the girl falls off. Alex looks buged-eyed at Luna and stammers one comment. "L-Luna, you're a girl! Ewwwww."

Luna jerkes around and in her enraged state sees another 'boy', looking at her and only one thought pops into her head, Pervert!. As she advances toward the new found target, she notices that 'The Boy' isn't moving and quickly rushes in to destroy this easy prey.

Ranma meanwhile notices that the girl called Luna isn't concentrating on him anymore and quickly rushes out of the room. He winces as he hears the screams from both the boy and the girl(one in pain and the other in rietuous female wrath). I feel your pain man.

***

-after the beating-

"Hey are you alright man?" Ranma asks Alex(He found out Alex's name after asking the boy's parents.) as he sees the battered boy come out of the bathroom with bruises, tears, and scratches all over his face.Hmmm I wonder if that girl knows the Neko-Ken.

"Yeah....Hey did you know Luna is a girl?" Alex whispers to Ranma conspiratorily.

"Yeah, so."

"You have to be careful around girls. Don't let them touch you."

"Huh? Why?" asked Ranma confused at where this was leading to.

Looking around to see if anyone is listening to them, motions Ranma closer. As Ranma leans toward him, Alex tells Ranma the secret with a shudder. "They, they have cooties." Then out of nowhere flies a bucket and hit Alex's head.

"I heard that!"

Alex rubbing his head with his left hand reaches out with his right. "So Ranma, do ya want to be friends."

With a smile slowly spreading across his face, Ranma also reaches out with his his right hand and clapses the other boy's hand. "Friends."

"Alex, hey Alex. You're mom told me to call you." called out Nall. As Nall came closer Ranma squinted to see what it was. It apeared to be a..flying...cat.

"C-c-c-cat!!!" screaming in terror, Ranma burst through the wall running away screamming. As he found himself inside a foreset, there he looked around and finding no cat in sight let out a huge sigh. Then all of a sudden he heard the leaves rustling, and no wind in sight(figurativly). As he turned around, he saw another type of the winged cat flying toward him.

"There you are. you're the one that has been calling to me. You don't know how annoying a constant bond call can be. I mean, it's like this 'feeling' at the corner of your mind. I guess I'm stuck with you. I mean, who would know people and creatures could bond?"Man how do I know about this bonding mumbo-jumbo?

Ranma just stared at the talking, flying, cat-like creature, registering only one sentence, 'stuck with you'. As everything went black, one and only one thought passed through hid head. Why me.

***

-Two years later.-

"Hey Ranma lets go out and play the four heros(1) again." Alex comes up and asks him excitedly.

"Awww agin? We always play that game. Don't you ever get bored of it?"

"What? No way! Come on lets go."

"Ohh alright. Hey are Luna and Ramus gonna come and play too?"

"Yeah, Luna is going to be Lemia and Ramus is Mel. They're already waiting outside, c'mon lets go!" Alex shouts as he drags Ranma to the door.

"Alright alright. Hey I get to be Dragonmaster Dyne this time."

"Nuh uh, I'm going to be Dragonmaster Dyne!"

"What!! Fine then, I will be Ghaleon, Dyne's best friend. But I get to be Dyne next time."and they run out to play. As they play outside, imagining battles, and heroic deeds, a sense of serenity falls over the area. Roughly broken by the apearence of Caine the black flying cat with Nall the white

flying cat.

"AHHHH CATS!" Ranma screams and Runs away.

"I AM NOT A CAT!!!" Nall and Caine screams, and starts to chase after Ranma.

***

-Seven more Years later-

"Aw man, this is hard, no matter how hard I blow on this, nothing comes out! I can't do this Alex." Frustrated Ranma drops the ocarina to the ground and lies on his back.

"C'mon Ranma it isn't that hard, Don't try to force the song to come out, just relax and let it flow out." Alex tells Ranma. "C'mon try again."

Ranma picks up the instrument, sighs and tries again. He blows and a song of absolute beauty does NOT come out. In fact just the sound of his breath is heard. "Argh, man this is NOT working. I'm just going to sit here and imagine that it comes out the way I want it to." Saying this, Ranma puts it to his mouth and imagines that a beautiful song comes out. And to the surprise of all around 

him, a beautiful song flows out. Everyone is captured by the song. Ranma doesn't even know that he is playing it so concentrated is he in playing the piece in his mind.

Finally, sheesh I thought he would never be able to do it. Alex and everyone else thought.

"Ranma that was beautiful!" Caine exclaimed.

"Yeah play it again!" Nall said.

"Huh? What the....CATS!!" Ranma screams in terror and runs away.

"How many times do we have to tall you, WE ARE NOT A CAT!!!" and the chase begins.

***

-One year later-

"C'mon Alex, concentrate! Move your arms! It's like my katchuu tenshin amaguriken! You have to move your arms by putting a bit of ki, your life energy into it."

"Alright here goes nothing! SWORD DANCE!"

"Yeah and here came nothing. What was that man? It didn't go any faster than before!" Ranma exclaimed. "This is simple, I could have done it in my sleep! Come on try again. I'll even stand here and act as a target for your attacks."

"Yeah well I didn't see you learn to play the ocarina fast." Alex grumbles.

"Did you say something?"

"Uhhh no hehehe. Okay here goes."

"Hey Alex, Ranma, what are you dong?" Nall asks.

Ranma turns around to see Nall and Caine "Huh, wha? C-C-CA". Ranma is shortly cut off by Alex's scream.

"SWORD DANCE!" 

"OH SHITTTT!"::crack, smack, pow, bam:: Ranma is repeatedly hit by the wooden boken at the amaguriken speed. "That hurt." Ranma gasps out before he loses conciousness.

***

-two years later-

"Alex, oh Alex where are you? 

"Oh! Hello, Nall." Says Alex as he turns around. From Cyne's Monument.

"Alex, couldn't you hear me? We've been looking around all over for the last half-hour calling you(except that lazy bum Ranma.) But I should've known you'd be here." As they both look at the monument of Dyne and read the inscription "In honor of the great Dragonmaster, Dyne." Nall asks Alex

"I know that Dragonmaster Dyne was probably the greatest of the Four Heros, Alex, but I'm amazed that youu never get tierd of coming to stare at his dull monument. Oh shoot! I just remembered...we'd better meet Luna to practice singing. If we're late, she'll be upset..."

We see Ranma run up to both Alex, and Nall. "I knew you were there. Hah I told ya so Nall. You owe me ten silvers. Hey Alex come on we have to go and see Luna."

Nall tries to make a scary face at Ranma, but stops when Ranma starts to laugh at him. "Humph! I knew we shouldn't have cured Ranma frommt the neko-phobia."

As Ranma, Alex, and Nall walk down away from the monument, they feel an earthquake. "That must be the third earthquake this week."Says Nall. Then they continue walking down, but stop as soon as they see Ramus, one of Alex and Ranma's best friend run up to them. 

"Hey, Alex! I figured you would be here! Now that the warm weather has melted the ice near the dragon's cave, there isn't any time to waste getting started on our big adventure! If we hurry, we may be able to sneak in without waking the dragon. Then we can get fantastically huge diamond from its lair worth thousands and thousands of silver, making us filthy stinkin rich and very popular in the process!" Ramus shouts at Alex, oviously excited at his idea.

"Whoa, don't blow a vessle chunko."(I don't have to say who said this do I? But if you don't know here's a hint, it is not Alex or Nall.

"Oh you're here too Ranma?" Ramus asks dryly.

"Well it sound like a nice idea Ramus." Alex intercepts quickly, acting as a mediator. "You could count us in."

"Us?" Ranma asks with an eyebrow quirked up.

"Him?" Ramus asks increduously.

"Yeah it will be great! C'mon lets go Luna is waiting for us." Saying this, Alex quickly walks away.

"Why did you say you're going to go?" Ranma asked.

"Well I always wanted to see the inside of the cave before, and have an adventure like Dragonmaster Dyne. Why whats wrong?"

"I..I just don't want you to get hurt, thats all. I guess I have to tag along to make sure you don't get into trouble. Anyway, how are you going to explain this to Luna? You know what she's going to say."

"Yeah I know, I'll think of something."

***

-Burg Springs-

We see Luna sitting on a stone chair singing, then all of a sudden two sounds of an ocarina in perfect harmony is heard. The song beautifully pairs up with Luna's song. Luna giggling stands up to meet Alex and Ranma together. 

"Alex, you're late again,silly. Were you whittling away the morning at Dyne's monument again? Or were you planning more make believe adventures with Ramus and Ranma?"

"Hahahaha. Hey Nall, even Luna knew where Alex were. You wasted your 10 silvers for nothing."Ranma says laughing hysterically with a peeved looking Nall flying next to him.

"Yeah sorry Luna, I completely forgot what time it was."

"And you Ranma, if you knew what time it was, why didn't you go and get Alex?" Luna asks Ranma.

"Uhhh, well you see, I was kind of, ummm you know, ummm busy?" Ranma finishes lamely.

"Ha! you went over to Ramus's house again and stuffed your face full of food." Nall says triumphly, finally having something to make fun of Ranma of.

"Was this true?" Luna asks with a narrowed eyes at Ranma.

"Ummm, ummm hey! Nall was there too!" Ranma acuses Nall. Ha! If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me.

"Is that true Nall?"

"What? Of course not! I was looking for Alex all this time." Nall says with such conviction that Ranma stood there with his mouth hanging open, marveling at Nall.You can't take me with you, I'm too good.

At that moment Caine enters the forrest with a huge mouthful of fish. "Yum. Oh hey there, where did you disapear off to? I mean, the lady at Ramus' house brought out an exquisite fish. You were with me and Ranma eating everything in site then the next thing we know, poof you disapeared."

Luna enraged looks at Nall "Naaaalllllll!!!"

"Hey Luna come on lets practice." Alex hastily cuts in to save the life of one of his best friend.

"Oh alright. But if I ever catch you lying to me again..." Luna left her threat hanging.

-after the practice-

"Wow you got so much better." Ranma says to Luna.

"Yeah Luna. Come on, lets go home, it's getting dark, and tommorw feels like a big day."Alex says as he waits for Luna to get ready to go. 

"Hey talking about big day, aren't you going to tell Luna about the trip to the White Dragon's Cave tommorow?" Ranma asks Alex. Alex's walking pace quickens with a huge sweatdrop on his head.

"The dragon's cave? Alex when were you going to tell me about this? You can't go Alex, you could get hurt or worse!" Luna says as she looks angrily at Alex. 

"Awww come on Luna, I would have told it to ya sooner or later. And plus I didn't want youworrying about me."

"Yeah Luna, I mean, I'll be there to protect him." Ranma says happily.

Nall and Caine can only shake their heads at this. "No matter how much we try Ranma SUCKS at lying and keeping his mouth shut." Caine whispers to Nall. Nall can only nod in agreement.

Luna whirls around at Ranma and asks "And since when did you know this?"

Ranma looking confused at why Luna was getting mad at him, says " The same time Alex knew."

"So it's just leave the girl out now is it?" Luna says and stomps back toward the house.

-later- 

Ranma, Alex, Nall, and Caine enters the house after giving Luna some time too cool off. They missed their dinner, but it wasn't worth it to go inside to eat even for Ranma. Alex goes over to Luna and tries to apologize.

"Lu-Luna? I'm sorry I should have told you earlier. But I didn't want you to be worried."

Ranma sits off to the side with Caine, watching this whole thing, and whispers to Caine and says, "Man he's pathetic."

"I know what you mean. Sheesh he should grow some backbone." Caine replies.

"Alex? Oh I'm not mad anymore."

"You-you're not? Whew, well I'm glad to see you understand."

"Alex? When are you going tommorow?"

"Around mid-day. Why?"

"Oh nothing just curious."

"Okay, good night Luna."

"Hey son, come over here for a moment. I hear you're going to the dragon's cave tommorow. Here take this and use it to protect yourself." Noah says and give Alex a dagger, sling, and a flame ring.

"Thanks dad!" Alex eagerly accepts the items.

"Oh and son? If you go down to the basement, you will find some things that I'm sure that you will need." 

"C'mon Ranma! Lets go down and look at the stuff!"

Both Ranma and Alex head downstairs and opens the chests. Inside they find they find Dragonflywings, Starlight, and Angels Tear. "What is this stuff?

"This? The Wings allows us to telport out of a dungeon, the starlight gives us energy, and the Angel's Tear wakes us up when we faint."

"Really? Damn I never knew about this. Hey how did you find out?"

"Huh? Oh! it says it on this paper inside one of the chests." Ranma facefaults.

"C'mon lets go to bed."

"Wait, I'm going to the weapon shop and buying a few things. You go to sleep first."

"Okay."

-next mid-day-

Ramus is waiting at the entrance of the village waiting when he sees Ranma and Alex coming towards him. "Hey! Right here!" Ramus waves excitedly.

As they come over, Ranma asks Alex, hey what did ya bring?"

"Oh I sold starlight, angel's tear, the weapons, and a set of clothes, and bought some herbs, a sword, some darts, and armor."

"Hey cool."

"Ranma, Alex! You came, c'mon lets go." Ramus says excitedly.

As they are about to leave they hear a call. "Wait. Huf huf." Luna calls out running toward them. "I'm going with you Alex." Luna stands in front of them and gives them 'THE LOOK' that just dares them to say no.

"Alex, Ranma, may I see you two for a moment." Ramus asks. Ranma, Alex, Nall, and Caine comes over. Ramus pulls his head near them and hisses "Okay, who told her about this trip?"

Ranma looks at each of their faces to see if any of them looks guilty. Then all of a sudden he notices everyone glaring at him with their fingers pointing accusingly at him. "Hey come on man. It was an honest mistake. It could've happen to anyone."

Ramus seems to just about say something when Luna calls out excitedly, "Come on lets go guys." And goes off skipping towards the direction to the cave. 

Everyone glares at Ranma one more time before chasing after her. "Wait up!"

Ranma stands there for a moment before he too runs after them.

End Chapter 1

Important: Ranma doesn't know how he ended up in Lunar. Yes he accepts the fact that he is on a different world. He does not change gender anymore. I made him into a child of five because I believe that he couldn't be truly happy unless he had a happy childhood. If you have any more Q's please e-mail me. Yes I know, not much of an action, but this was to introduce the characters. I promise that the next chapter will have actions and fighting.

Author Notes: (1) Just in case you guys don't know who the four heros are, they are Hell Mel the beast man, Lemia the sorceress, Ghaleon Dyne's best friend and one of the strongest sorcerer, then finally the Dragonmaster, Dyne. 

Don't think that I'm going to pair up Ranma and Luna just because of the bathroom incident. I mean she was only five you pervert! I need comments people please comment. Also looking for pre-readers and someone to give me some ideas so please e-mail me. As before it is maverickmage@hotmail.com.

I had some about Ranma being OOC in the prolouge and this is because Ranma cannot runaway from his prblem or do anything about it because he is bound by honor and he will not break it. Also this was to be a crossover with another world, so some powerful being had to bring him here. And it will not work if Ranma tries to control his life.

As I said before, anything is welcome even flame please just explain why. Also if you want the intro song for this, e-mail me and I will try to send it to you.


	3. Chapter 2

In your dreams magical thoughts,

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters here even though I wish I did. Ranma ½ goes to Rumiko Takahashi and the game LunarSSSC goes to Working Designs. Do we really have to keep on writing this? I mean who reads this stuff anyway. Anyway on with the story.

In your dreams magical thoughts,

All things are real unless you dream they're not.

In your dreams love is the, 

Carried on wings of hope.

Each of our souls intertwine when we do,

Instantly we see it, the time to grow and be it,

When everything is pinned on a hope.

Let rise the dreams of your heart,

That innocent youth, careless and kind,

Free to roam the breeze in love,

Only when two brilliantly shine as one!

Chapter 2

"Hey Alex! How far is this cave anyway? Are we even going in the right 

direction? Man how far can this cave be? My legs are starting to cramp up. Can we rest a

bit? I'm hungry let's eat some food." Ramus complained nonstop as he trudged towards the direction of the cave.

"No chunko, the cave is not that far, yes we are gong in the right direction, it is

only a few miles, your leg is cramping because you are a chunko, we cannot rest for a bit

because we have been walking for only FIFTEEN GODDAMN MINUTE, AND NO WE

CANNOT EAT BECAUSE YOU ATE IT ALL ALREADY!!!" Ranma who had been

talking calmly before suddenly yelled.

"Ranma calm down man. Come on, it's not that bad." Alex said to try and placate

the angry boy. "Come on Ramus, just hang in there for a bit more. It's not that far and

Luna saved some food so we can eat when we reach the cave."

"Ranma, practice on your harp (1), that always calms you down." Luna said as

she saw that the pigtailed boy was still angry. 

"Fine then, but if Mr. Chunky there says anything else that is annoying, I am

going to rip him a new asshole. You hear that chunky? One more squeak out of you…"

Ranma leaves the threat hanging. "Man how did I get stuck with this girl instrument? I 

mean the ocarina wasn't bad but this? This is like one of those stupid cute little angel 

flying around kind of thing."

"Ranma, we tried to teach you to play the ocarina, but man you were a lost cause. 

I mean, Alex learned to play both the harp and the ocarina at the age of six." Nall said as 

he smiled smugly at Ranma. 

"Hey! Even you said that my playing was good when I played it without thinking 

about it." Ranma said heatedly.

"Yeah Ranma, but that only happens when you aren't paying much attention, and 

playing in your own head. I mean, you can't even hear yourself. At least with the harp, 

you seem to have some moderate skill." Caine said matter of factly.

"Not you too Caine! I thought we stood up for each other?" Ranma says to Caine.

"Hey everyone we're here!" Luna called back excitedly.

"Man, Luna seems more excited then we are." Ranma whispers to the rest of the 

male as he headed toward the entrance.

"Hey Luna, can we have some food now? Man I'm starved!" Ramus asks eagerly.

"I have to agree with Ramus this time. Plus, you make the best food Luna." 

Ranma says to Luna salivating at the mouth.

"Yeah, Luna you're the best!" Caine said.

"Yay! I smell fish!" Nall shouted.

"I didn't make this food silly. Alex offered to make the food today." Luna says with a smile. 

"Alex…"

"…made…"

"…the…"

"…food?"

A sudden silence followed this.

"Hehehehe look at the time. We should go through the cave so we can get home 

before dark." Ranma said as he stood up and walked over to the cave entrance.

"Hey Luna, Alex! Sorry I just remembered, I'm supposed to be on a new diet. I 

can't eat your food, sorry." Saying this Ramus scampered toward Ranma.

"I'm really sorry Alex, but now that I think about it, Caine and I already ate some 

fish before we started off. If we eat too much we might get fat." Saying this, Nall and 

Caine quickly flies toward where the rest of the guys were standing.

Luna watches this all silently with a large sweat drop growing on her head. Man, 

how bad can his cooking be? She then sees the group motioning frantically to her to 

come to them. As she sees this processing, she gets worried. "Ummm Alex? We really 

should get started on the journey if we don't want to be late for home." With that said, 

Luna hurries towards the group. When she reaches the group, she whispers to them, 

"What's wrong?"

"Oh Luna you came in time. Alex never fed you his cooking, but it is toxic. I 

mean , I saw a goblin eat his food once and it turned around and barfed up the food. And 

those things eat everything, including poop!" Nall whispers to Luna.

"Oh come on Nall, it couldn't have been that bad!" Luna exclaims with a sweat 

drop. Seeing the disbelieving look around her, she says to Alex, "Hey Alex, I think 

they're right. We really should get started faster."

"But, but, guys, you guys said you were starving. Come on, just eat a bite." Alex

called out. Seeing the quickly retreating forms of his friend, he quickly packed all of his 

foods and followed in after them. 

As Alex reached where everyone were standing, he saw a huge pillar of ice 

blocking the entrance. "Aww man, we just came here for nothing." All of a sudden, the

ring that Noah gave him started to glow. Then with a flash of heat, the pillar of ice 

melted.

"Whoa Alex. Since when did you know how to do magic?" Caine asked. 

"Yeah Alex, the last time I checked, we couldn't do any magic, just special 

abilities, except for chunko over there." Ranma said.

"I didn't do anything, honest! I just stood here, then this ring that father gave me 

got warm, and the next thing I know, the ice melted."

"Well let's get started." Ranma said.

As the group walked farther into the cave, a monster suddenly hopped towards 

them. "Sheesh, Akane must have made some jello again." Ranma said.

"Akane? Who's Akane?" Luna asked.

"Umm inside joke." Ranma put his hand behind his head and laughed.

"Forget this Akane, it looks like one of Alex's cookings." Nall said.

"Well here it comes. Let's get ready to fight. Here Luna, you could use the darts."

Alex said as he jumped into battle.

"Can't let you have all the fun." Ranma said as he jump kicked the blob.

The battle started with Alex going up to the jello and slashing at it with his sword.

Ranma kicking at it with his feet,Luna throwing darts at it, and Ramus hiding behind 

Luna.

"Man, this battle was easy. I thought this place might be more dangerous the way 

most of the adults told us to never go inside that cave when we were little."

"Yeah I know Ranma, sheesh this place is easy. C'mon lets go in more you guys."

"Hey tubby, stop hiding behind Luna. It was your idea to come here in the first 

place. Grow a back bone man." Caine called out. [We know he has been hangong out

with Ranma too long.] 

"Hey there's a baboon or something running toward us!" Nall called out.

"Alright another easy battle!" Ranma shouted. As Ranma leaped into the battle

he took a hit on the shoulder."OW! Hey watch out guys this one actually fights!" 

Ranma shouted, as he began to take this battle more seriously."Hey Alex, watch out!"

Alex took a few hits from the Albino Baboon, "Damn, I'm actually getting hurt.

Okay here it goes! SWORD DANCE!" Alex shouted as his arms suddenly blurred and 

hit his enemy with hundreds of sword strikes. The baboon howled in pain and collapsed.

"Man the monsters are getting tougher, but nothing we can't handle, right Alex!"

Ranma called out as he slapped Alex on the back and continued on. "Come on Luna,

Ramus, hurry up or you're going to miss all the fights."

"What's he so happy about?" Ramus grumbled as he trudged after his friends.

"Don't worry about it Ramus." Luna called out. "I'll protect you!" 

"Nooo Luna not you too. When is the teasing going to stop!"

Giggling, Luna hurried up so they won't be left behind.

"Hey Ranma, these monsters are actually getting hard." Alex said seriously. "The

others might get hurt. We better beat the monsters fast."

"Yeah I know Alex. Hey! You're hurt. Come over here man. Don't just stand 

there bleeding man. When I told you to take pain like a man when we were kids didn't

mean this way. Here I have some herb on me, that should cure it fast.'

"Sorry about that Ranma, I din't even know I was hurt."

Snorting Ranma finished treating the wound. Ramus and Luna caught up at

the same time. "Hey you guys, be careful, these monsters are starting to get dangerous.

Alex actually got hurt." Ranma warned them. 

Hearing this, they sobered up instantly. As they continued on silently, they heard 

Nall and Caine suddenly screeching. 

"What's wrong?!" Alex shouted.

"There's some kind of a bug attacking us!" Nall shouted.

"What the? Here they come." Ranma finally taking the fight seriously hit one of

the mutant fly with all his streanght. ::SPLAT:: "Aww man, this is disgusting! Hey these 

aren't strong! Relax guys." 

"Alex, Ranma! There's a way into another room right there. As Ranma and the 

rest of the gang fought to reach there, more and more enemies appeared. 

"This might actually be the way! Look at how these freaks don't want us to enter 

that place. Come on guys! It's not that far." As they fought, more and more baboons 

started to appear. "Ughh!" Ranma shouted. As he took a hard hit.

"Ranma!" Seeing Ranma hurt, Luna began to sing softly. As she did so, a 

soothing power seems to envelope Ranma and cure him.

"What the…" Ranma gasped as he found himself unhurt. Ranma and the rest

were finally able to make it to the doorway. When they entered, they found themselves in 

a large room empty of enemies. 

As they walked through the room, they gasped, finding the legendary White 

Dragon of Althena. 

"Whoa! What the heck is that?" Ranma yelped.

"That is the dragon that guards this place." Luna explained.

"Hey Luna, how did you do that healing thingy?" Ranma asked.

"I don't know it just seemed right at the moment." Luna answered..

All of a sudden, a voice rings out, "Who has awakened me from my deep 

slumber?"Quark (the dragon) opens his eyes and yawns. "Hmmmm…" Quark bends

down his head to talk to them.

The crew can only look up in shock and wonder at the dragon. Unable to say

Anything. (so they can't answer the first question.)

"My friends, you are the first adventurers to visit me in a long time. I am Quark,

patriarch of the Dragon Tribe. You have journeyed far, and now you have arrived at my 

lair. It is a journey few have survived. Your mission must be urgent."

"You got that right! Do you have any idea how hard it is to get through this 

cave?" Ranma suddenly shouts. "I mean, you could have made it a bit easier to get 

to this place. And urgent mission? Hah! We only came to have some fun and satisfy that

greedy little pig right there."

Ramus yelps and cowers behind Alex. "Ummm, Mr. Dragon sir? Can you give us

The, um, the Dragon's Diamond please?" Ramus asks in a pathetic whimpering voice."I 

mean you don't have to give it if you don't want to." 

"Sooooo you came for the Dragon's Diamond. You humans always like those, I don't know why.Don't you know that they are our :cough:" (those of you who plays this game knows what they are made of.) "I will give you the diamond on one condition."

"Yeah? What is it!" Ramus asks excitedly. The thought of getting his hands on one of the diamond was enough to make him drool. "We'll do anything!"

"What!! Hey pig-boy, I don't know about you but, I don't want to go rushing off for some diamond." (thank Althena that he didn't get greediness from his father.) "So Alex, what do ya think? Luna? How about you?"

"Welll….." Alex says thinking about it, then replies "Oh alright."After seeing Ramus make puppy eyes at him. (I know, that's gross) 

"And you Luna?"

"I could keep up. Lets go!"

"Alright then. Lets go for it!"

"Yeah!" two voice chorused after them. (Nall and Caine)

"Then before you go, let me heal you." AsQuark heals them, he whispers "may you have a safe journeys my friends."

-Outside the cave-

"Hey lets go guys!" Ramus shouts with only the thought of the diamond in his mind. "Hurry hurry hurrrrahhHHHHHH!" 

"Good job Ramus, you found the monster. Now go and kill it.We'll wait for ya." Ranma smirks as he says this. 

"Co-come on Ranma, guys, help me out here."Ramus stammers nervously, backing away from the fierce, scary, monstrous, five-inch jelly.

"Bwahahahaha. Come on Ramus, its just a itty bitty jelly. Is chunky-butty here scared.Hmmm? Hmmm? Hahahah you're pathetic." Saying this, Ranma goes up to hit the jelly, when suddenly it lashes out, and "Hey! What the hell? I can't move."

Giggling Luna remarks, "Ranma it seems that you have been paralyzed." Saying so, Luna throws a dart at it and kills it. The monster being destroyed releases Ranma from the paralyzing spell. 

"Who's the widdle baby now Ranma? Huh? Huh?" Ramus taunts Ranma as he chases after him.

"Shut up porky.If you don't want the stuffing beaten out of you." Ranma waves his fist at him. "At least I didn't wet my pants."

"Huh? Wha?" Ramus exclaims, then looks down at his breeches (pants) and sees a yellow stain that's drying. He quickly hides the stain,behind his hand and flushes.

They all walk on quietly after that, battling occasional monsters along the way.Then they finally find a treasure box.Unfortunately it is behind huge pillars of ice.

"Aww man, how are we going to get through that?" Ramus asks with Alex nodding his head in agreement. 

"Hey no prob." Saying this Ranma charges his fist with all his might and strikes out.A loud crack is heard ringing throughout the cave.Ranma steps back triumphantly and looks at the pillar.

"Ranma, didn't that hurt?" Luna asks tentatively.

"No way. Not at all." Ranma says with confidence.

"Really?" Caine asks. "Whoa you're stronger than I thought." And pokes him on his fist.

"AHRAGGRGHGRA!!!" Ranma screams out in pain.

"Ha! I thought so." Caine crowed as he flew around avoiding Ranma's fist.

"Come on, there must be some way to get past this."

"ALEX! Watch out!" Luna suddenly screams, as an enraged albino charged at him.

Alex managed to jump away in time, but the monkey couldn't stop its momentum and hit the pillar of ice with its head.The pillar shattered as the baboon shook his head.

"Hey, that's an idea!" Nall exclaimed, and they began to use the albino's head to crack through the remaining pillars. After hitting the tenth pillar in a row, the albino finally lost conciousness and slumped to the ground.

"Hey guys, we finally made it through." Saying this, Alex opened the chest and finds a ring made of the purest silver. 

"Hey, cool, it's that what we're supposed to find?" Ranma asks.

"Yeah, Quark told me right before we left." Alex replies.

"Ranma! Alex! Come over here for a moment guys, look at what I found, another chest." Ramus exclaims, the light of greed shining in his eyes.As he reaches out and tries to open the chest, a sharp electrical shock jolts him away."Whoa!The chest just shocked me!"

"What! No way.Here, let me try." Saying this, Ranma pushes Ramus out of the way and places his hand on the chest.There is a brief tingling sensation and becomes slightly warm, but otherwise doesn't do anything else.As he opens the chest, he finds a gauntlet inside.

The gauntlet is made out of a shimmering color that when the light hits it in a certain way, it shines a specific color.On top of the gauntlet are five spaces.On the first space, there is a diamond of the most perfect shape, and the rest of the spaces seems to indicate a space to be filled in.

"Hey, what the…." Ranma mutters, seemingly transfixed on the gauntlet. 

"Ranma, try it on." Alex says.

I don't know if you should Ranma, I'm getting this weird feeling about it." Luna says.

Ranma tries on the gauntlet and it fits him as if it was made just for him."Hey Ranma, let me try it on." Ramus says.As Ranma takes it off and hands it to Ramus.Ramus eagerly puts on the gauntlet, when all of a sudden, he screams with pain and rips the gauntlet off.

"Ramus! What's wrong?" Everyone asks. 

"I…I don't know.I put it on and all of a sudden, my hand feels as if it is being crushed." Ramus says.

"Really? It felt just fine to me." Ranma says as he put the glove back on.

"Fine, you just keep it them." Ramus says as he walks away in a huff. 

"Alright we got what we came for, let's go."Caine says as he flitters around. Everyone agreeing, walks away also, back to Quark. 

-Back at Quark's Lair-

"Hey Quark! We found the ring!" Nall yelled out as he flew in. 

"I am glad that you have returned safely my friends.' Quark rumbled as he talked to the group. "May I see the ring?"

Alex held up his hand and showed the ring to him."It's this ring right?" Alex asks.Seeing Quark nod, Alex let out his breathe.

Quark looks at each of the group and sees their Lines of Destiny.An aura that rises to the sky.The brighter the light, the more important their destiny.Most Lines of Destinies are moderately bright, flowing into the sky, these allows other destinies go on unaffected.However, to a rare few who have extremely powerful aura, such as a dragon or a god, have an aura that shines blindingly, and pulls the auras/destinies toward them, intertwining together.These have the power to change the destiny of others.[Got the idea from the game Breath of Fire]

To Quark's vision, Alex had an aura such as this, intertwining other auras together.Alex's aura color was a bright vibrant green, showing his liveliness and ties with the nature around him. (He is the one.He has the eyes. )Luna had an aura like this also, a powerful aura.Hers however shined in a soft white hue, showing the purity of her heart.Ramus had a moderate aura, intertwined with Alex and Luna.His was that of orange, the color of green, tinged with light blue, showing loyalty.When Quark finally looked at Ranma, he almost fell in surprise.Ranma's aura did not pull in other auras surrounding his nor, was his pulled in to intertwine with theirs.His aura shot straight into the air, parts of it fragmenting and connecting with others.His aura created a web, various parts connected together, with his supporting all of them.Also the color of his aura seem to fluctuate wildly, black one second, white another, and so forth.

(He seems to be chaos incarnate.) Quark thought to himself.Then he noticed the gauntlet in the right hand of Ranma."Boy, were did you find that?" Quark asked all of a sudden. 

Ranma looks up in surprise. "This?It was in another part of the place were we found the ring."He holds up his hand to give Quark a better look. "Do you know what it is?"

"I do not know what it is child." Quark lied.

"Oh? Too bad.Hey, can we go now?" Ranma says.

"Yes, of course you may.Let me heal you again for your journey back." Quark watches as the group leaves.(The one called Alex has the eyes.However, this Ranma, worries me.His very essence seems to be chaos.He is also able to wield the Chaos Gauntlet. Could the legend have been true?)

-End of Chapter 3-

Author's Rambling: Finally finished the chapter.About time to.If any of you readers out there want to give me an idea, please do so.Also, send me some comments be it good or bad.Thank you for reading this story written humbly by me in order to entertain you.(Gawd I sound like a T.V spokesman.)


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Lunar SSSC or Ranma 1/2.

In your dreams, magical thoughts,

All things are real unless you dream they're not.

In your dream, love is the plot,

Carried on wings of hope.

Each of our souls intertwine when we do,

Instantly we see it, the time to grow and be it,

When everything is pinned on a hope.

Let rise the dreams of your heart,

That innocent you, careless and kind,

Free to roam the breeze in love,

Only when two brilliantly shine as one!

Dragonmaster

      "Hey, the village is just up ahead!" Ramus shouts as the village comes into view. He then starts walking faster, finally keeping pace to the rest of the group. "I can't wait, just a few more minutes and I'll be rich beyond my dreams!"

      "Jeez man, is that all you can think about? I mean, the only thing that gets you excited is money and food." Ranma comments as he walks along.

      "Hey what is that supposed to me-" Ramus was interrupted by Caine and Nall flying around him, distracting his thoughts. 

      "Hey Alex, why do you look so down? I mean you went on an adventure like Dragonmaster Dyne. Isn't this what you wanted all along?" Luna asked, concerned about how quiet Alex was on their journey back.

      "Yeah, I know Alex, What's wrong man?" Ranma asks Alex now noticing how quiet Alex was. "You even got a present from the O-So-Mighty-White-Dragon-Quark right?"

      "Yeah I know Ranma, Luna. It was great, just... I just wish that it could have lasted longer. Just when everything was getting exciting..." Alex's voice trails off.

      "Yeah I understand. I mean, everything was getting fun and then it all stopped. I mean, this would probably be the only adventure we will ever have on this boring place." Ranma says. Being his usual self and just talking without thinking of the fact that this would probably make Alex more depressed. Ranma sighs and then continues on to say, "Killing monsters, finding treasures, and meeting weird creatures. Sure brings back memories."

      "Huh? What are you talking about Ranma? We knew you since you were a little kid." Nall says looking puzzled at Ranma. Everyone else was giving him the exact same look.

      "Huh? Did I say it brings back old memories? I mean umm I umm meant to say that it reminds me of a story that I heard when I was a kid. Yeah that's it, it reminds me of a story." Then Ranma does the trademark put-your-hand-behind-your-head-and-laugh maneuver. A perfected move that fails to convince anyone except himself. Yeah that was smooth. Heh, that was one of my greatest lies yet.

      Meanwhile a simultaneous thought ran through everyone else's mind. Who is he trying to fool? The correct answer being that he is trying to fool himself into thinking that he fooled everyone else. 

      "Anyway, I'm glad that it's over already. Those monsters were dangerous Alex! If Quark didn't heal us, then we might not have made it." Luna says, getting more distressed as she goes on.

      "Hey Luna lighten up. Nothing happened and we all got out fine." Ranma says in defense of his adopted brother. "The fun was just starting. This was probably the only adventure that we would for the rest of our lives anyway."

      "I gotta agree with Luna Alex, Ranma. I mean those monsters were pretty scary. Like that big hairy monkey monster, and the jello that tries to eat you instead and..." Ramus continues on to list off everything that terrified him, which turned out to be just about everything.

      As they walk on, now silent, the village gates loom closer. Standing behind the gates was the statue of Althena. A miraculous statue imbued with the power to heal any wounds. Noticing that the village was only a short few steps ahead of them, Ramus in his excitement runs inside the village. "Hey you guys, c'mon let's go already. Time is money, and the faster we go, the faster we get our money."

      "Hey Alex, I'm going to go see how your parents are doing. Do you want to come along? You really should see them, they might be worried." Luna says as she walks towards their house.

      Seeing Ramus mouth the word later, Alex replies "I'll come see them later. I want to go with Ramus and see how much that diamond is worth. Ranma, are you going to go with us or Luna?"

      "Ummm, I think that I'll go with you guys. I'll see ya later Luna." Saying this Ranma, Alex, and Ramus walked towards the only jewelry store that was built in their village. As they walked inside, Ramus seemed to get more and more excited. 

      Inside the shops were all kinds of rings, bracelets, and other ornaments that most girls and some guys feel the compulsion to wear. The prices ranged from a small pittance to huge sums of money. Sparkling and colorful, the racks up front draw the attentions of many girls who drags their boyfriends into emptying their pocket money for them.

      Ramus saunters up to the counter and calls on the owner of the store. "Yo, mister I want to do some business with you." Ramus says. From the way he is standing and the how he said the sentence shows how much the imaginary riches that were made in his head got to. 

      "Yes, may I help you Ramus?" Chet, the owner of the store asks Ramus amused. After all, Ramus used to visit his shop when he was a little tyke, always pretending that all the jewels were his. Wondering what get-rich-quick scheme Ramus came up with now he decided to go along with the whole deal. "Did you want to buy something? For a sweetheart maybe?"

      Unable to contain his excitement, he burst into a wide smile saying, "Naw Chet. Look, it's a dragon's diamond! Ranma, Alex, and I went down into the ice cave and got it." Almost adding as an afterthought, Ramus added "Oh yeah, Luna went also."

      Chet couldn't believe his eyes. In front of him sat a diamond the size of a person's fist. But more unbelievable was the fact that Ramus actually managed to get it. Ramus, after all this time, and all the failed get rich quick scheme, was now the rich. The lazy and fat son of the mayor finally struck it rich. "Boy! Is this real?"

      "Sure is Chet. Now let's talk business. How much are you willing to pay for this hunk of beauty? And don't try to cheat me. I have a rough outline of the cost. After all, I was taught by the best."

      "Damn right boy. I should know, I taught you how to see the cost of a jewel. But I can't pay for this. My whole store isn't worth this much boy."

      "What!? C'mon Chet." Ramus complained. In the background, Ramus hears Ranma break out into laughter. His anger rising, Ramus whirls around and says hotly "Just WHAT DO YOU THINK IS SO DAMN FUNNY?!?!" 

      "Hahahahehe. Sorry Ramus, it's just that you have one of the most expensive item, and you can't do anything about it because it costs too much." Ranma then walks away still chuckling over the whole matter.

      "C'mon Chet, what am I going to do with it then? If no one buys it, then its just another chunk of stone." Ramus looks pleadingly at Chet, desperate seeing his dreams of becoming rich quickly vanishing.

      "Welll, you only have just about one choice left. You could try to go to Meribia. Meribia is a big commercial city. A lot of people live there. But, there is a problem. The path to Meribia is thick with fogs, and there seems to be a lot more monsters than before. It's dangerous now to try and go across." Chet says gravely.

      "Is that it? Well, compared to the dragon's cave, how bad can it be?" Ramus says cockily. The thought of obtaining huge sums of money obviously went to his head as Chet's wise warning just passes through one ear and out the other.

      Ramus and the others walks out. Ranma, Alex, and Ramus walks outside. Alex has a worried expression on his face as he says, "Ramus are sure about this? Chet said that it is really foggy. And the monsters there are supposed to be powerful. That's why most only travel in groups of ten."

      "Hey Alex, your starting to sound like Luna now. Come on, how hard can it be? Plus I'm going to be there so don't worry about it. Even chunko here can't slow me down, even though it is going to be harder. Plus, I thought you said that you didn't want the adventure to end yet. Here's your chance." Ranma says to Alex. Slowly, Alex's resolve changes as he hears these words.

      "Yeah, you're right. It's just getting exiting." Alex says. "We should tell Luna about this. She doesn't like to be just taken out of these things you know. And plus, she would worry too much when she gets angry. Remember what happened long ago with the bathroom incident? She's scary."

      "What!? Are you crazy Alex?. You know she won't let us go. She would just say 'Alex you can't go. What if you get hurt or worse?' You know she would say that!" Ramus yelps.

      "Yeah, I'll have to agree with Ramus there Alex." Ranma says as he nods his head. "Luna will never let us go."

      "Come on Alex. Quickly, let's go now so that she can't stop us. You can tell her that we went to Meribia after you come back. That way, we could go and not worry about her nagging us all the way. C'mon, lets go?"

      Looking at both the expectant faces of Ranma and Ramus, Alex sighs in defeat and mutters, "Luna is sooo going to kill me after I come back."

      "Alright, let's go!" Ramus shouts as he leads the way to the exit of the village. As they exit the village, Ramus says, "The only path to Meribia is through the forest east of here."

      The trio walks on the path leading to the forest. However, as they near the forest the day seems to become darker, the natural sounds of nature disappear, and the cold breeze howls. The dark forest looms over them, the tall trees standing sentinels. A hiss seems to imply of a hidden danger lurking in the forest.

      "Is it just me or does these woods look weird. I mean, why did it get cold all of a sudden?" Ranma said as he looks at the tall trees standing before him ominously.

      "It is called the Weird Woods for a reason Ranma." Ramus says rather dryly. Ranma gives Ramus the 'Look' and ignores him afterwards. Ramus after hours of being teased on the journey to Quark's cave and back, took tremendous delight in getting back at Ranma, no matter how small or petty it was.

      "Come on guys, let's go." Alex tells the two in order to break up the argument. As they enter the Weird Woods, one thing is instantly noticeable. The whole forest is filled with fogs so thick they couldn't see three feet in front of them. However, more unnerving than this is probably the fact that there are sounds of rustling leaves as creatures moves through them, the growls and shrieks coming from the unknown was not helping their nerves any either.

      As they walk in deeper into the woods, the fog condenses even more and visibility becomes almost nil. Alex and Ranma gets the heebie jeebies down their spines, however brush off any fears that they feel. Ramus on the other hand seems just about ready to wet his pants and shame himself in front of the 'guys'. 

      "Hey, Ramus." Ranma turns around and says. 

      "Yeah Ranma?" 

      "QUIT THE SHAKING SO MUCH! Your damn teethes are getting on my nerves. Damn pig boy, if you were going to be this scared, then why'd ya come here in the first place!" Shaking his head, Ranma walks on leaving a shocked pudgy boy in the background.

      "I-I'm not s-scared!" Saying so, Ramus trys to put up a brave front. Walking slowly and carefully, they continue on. However, after only a few dozens of steps later, the thing that was bound to happen happened. Ramus' nerves snapped. Yelling in fright, letting out all his pent up fear, Ramus makes a 180-degree turn and runs back.

      "Sigh. I thought so. Damn porky. I knew he would chicken out." Saying this to no one in particular, Ranma turns to Alex and says, "Guess we gotta go back. Ramus had the diamond, so it would be useless going on ahead."

      Alex sighs and nods in resignation. Muttering to himself, "Damn, Luna's gonna kill me and I barely walked into the forest." Alex trudges on out of the forest and along the path. Ramus was nowhere to be found.

      "You know? Ramus can be pretty fast when he wants to be." Ranma remarks as he walks towards their village. As they continue along the path that leads them back to Burg, they catch up to Ramus.

      "Sorry I got sick in there guys." Ramus looks shamefaced as he stands before them, almost looking like a puppy that is about to get scolded, but actually looked more like a pig with a case of the stomach flu.

      Ranma opens his mouth about to make a sarcastic remark when Alex gives him a sharp look. Ranma closes his mouth with an audible clack. "That's okay Ramus. We could try to go when it isn't so foggy. Nothing to feel bad about." 

      Ramus looks up in surprise. "But now you'll get in trouble from Luna. And it's all because of me."

      "That's ok, Ramus." Saying this, all three walks into Burg.

      They walk into the village in silence. Ramus turns to go to his house to turn in for the night. Ranma who lived with Alex goes on towards Alex's hose located on the northern most of the village. "Well, Alex. Think on the bright side. If ya went than you would have missed the summer festival. You know that you have to do a duet with Luna. Imagine how angry she would have been if you didn't show up for it."

      Alex nodded his head in agreement, and actually felt some relief. He would have sorely been sad if he missed the Summer Festival. As he entered the house, he immediately notices one thing. The house was unusually cold. 

      "Aaaaaalllllleeeeeeexxxxxxxxx." 

      Alex turned around hearing his name spoken in a most dreadful manner. Behind him stood Luna. Glowing a bright red color she advanced upon Alex. Ranma who stood a little apart from Alex was able to get away unnoticed. Phew. That was close. Poor Alex. Oh well, when it comes down to women it's all men to themselves. Thinking this in his head, Ranma walked away into the kitchen for anything to eat. Taking the food to his room, Ranma lies down on his bed, munching on the snack. His head filled with thoughts from memories long thought buried, the last trail of thought in his mind before he fell asleep was, Damn, it seems so much like my old life now. So..so..[yawn] out...of..contr.....

***The next morning***

      Ranma wakes up in the morning and stretches. He goes outside to do his morning katas. Usually after he is done, he goes and wakes up Alex for their morning practice. Once, he tried doing the same with Ramus, but later stopped because it wasn't worth the effort. Ranma did not even consider waking Luna early in the morning because of two reasons. 1 is that girls are weaker than males and would never be a martial artist, and 2, Luna was downright scary when she isn't able to have her beauty sleep.

      He gets a surprise as he walks outside. There, packed and waiting for him are Alex, Luna, and Ramus. Feeling confused, Ranma goes up to them and asks, "Hey, what are you guys doing up so early?"

      "Luna decided that she wanted to go to the Weird Woods and go on to Meribia." Alex says with a sigh. When Luna isn't looking, slips Ranma a pleading look, which Ranma answered back with a shrug.

      Ramus however seemed unusually quiet, standing off on the side sullenly. When Ranma looks at Alex with a curious gaze, Alex shakes his head and mouths later. "Luna, you know that you'll probably miss the festival right?" Seeing Luna's confirming nod, Ranma adds, "But you two have been practicing it for months!"

      "It doesn't matter." From the way she said those three words, Ranma knew that when a girl said something with the tone she used now, there would be no turning back. "Well guys, let's go!" Luna says with a chipper voice.

      Forced to trudge along, the guys follow. As they once again reach the Weird Woods, they notice that even in the daytime, the forest is filled with fogs. Upon entering the woods, the visibility drops significantly.

      Ramus, still frightened of the woods brightens tremendously. "Well it looks like we can't go. You can't see anything." He makes a 180-degree angle and is about to head back when Luna grabs his collar. 

      "Hey Ramus, grow a spine will ya? You're supposed to be a guy, suck it in like a man." Hearing this from a girl, Ramus had no choice but to stay. "Wait, let me try something." Luna then proceeds to sing a captivating song, and the mist magically began to dissipate.

      Everyone looks surprised, including it seems Luna herself. "Hey Luna, alright! I new you had a magical voice. Alex says as a joke. To lighten their surprise.

      "Hmph, I knew your voice was scary, but to make the mists runaway." Ranma says as a joke. Luna whirls around and uses the super-secret-ultra-duper-demon head attack. Her head swells to several times her head, glowing with a fiery blue aura, her eyes flashing the color of Hades. Ranma, with a sweat drop the size of his fist ran into the woods.

      "Hey Luna, did you know that that would happen?" Alex asks Luna as she started to laugh hysterically with a wooden mallet from kami knows where. At his question, Luna stops and looks at Alex seriously with a bit of confusion in her eyes.

      "No. I didn't know. It... there was just this feeling that if I sang then something would happen."

      "All well, at least everything is fine now. Let's go!" Ramus now cheerful walks on into the forest. Alex and Luna looks at each other and laugh then runs to catch up to Ranma.

      As they reach Ranma, they find Ranma engaged in a battle with a Gorgon. A Gorgon is a slug-like monster with a pale blue body, spotted with violets. The tail ends in a fin like shape like a fish, and has several stalks of eyes growing from its round body. Ranma jumps around the Gorgon like a hyper rabbit dodging all of its attack.

      The monster frantically tries to attack Ranma by spitting a green gunk, retching it from its stomach. Luckily it is slow and Ranma has no problem avoiding the attacks. Finally, with a scream of katchu tenshin amaguriken, the monster explodes.

      The group reaches Ranma as soon as the Gorgon is dead. "Ranma are you alright?" Alex asks worried. Ranma fought several monsters from the look of body parts. 

      "Yeah, nothing to it." Ranma answers back in his usual cocky style.

      Luna notices that Ranma is hurt. One of the sleeves on his arm is burned of and the skin underneath is blistering with a red swelling. Green pus seems to leak from it. Ranma sees Luna looking at it and tries to hide his arm behind his back. "Ranma your hurt!" Luna says. The others see Ranma holding his arm behind his back and goes towards him.

      "Nahhh. It's nothing." Ranma then tries to walk away when Luna grabs onto Ranma's shoulder, holding him back. Luna tries to take Ranma's injured arm to see how serious it is, but Ranma moves his arm around, preventing Luna from looking at it closely.

      "Ranma, stop that. That wound looks dangerous. Alex, Ramus, grab onto Ranma's arm." Luna commands them as she takes out several leaves of herbs from her pouch. When she gets a closer look at it she gasps. The wound is even more serious than she first thought. The wounds seem to refuse to shut. "Ranma..." She says sadly. Seeing how sad Luna looks, Ranma felt ashamed. 

      "I knew you would get sad. That's why I din't want to show it to ya. I heal fast, you know that. Everything would have been okay a few minutes later." Ranma tells Luna as she administers the herds, grinding the leaves and wrapping it in a bandage. Alex looks at this short conversation and feels out of place and feels a hint of jealousy at the corner of his heart. However, this fact he hides even from himself. 

      After Ranma is all patched up, the group continues on into the woods. Avoiding being detected by the monsters. However, as the path broadens into a wide area, a large growlings from various corners are heard. They all rush towards the exit on the other side of the path when a goblin rushes from there.

      "Damn it, we have to back off!" Ramus shouts. The group starts running back from where they came from.

      "We have to separate!" Ranma shouts as they spot another goblin approaching them.

      "Are you crazy! If we separate then they'll just pick us off one by one!" Ramus yells back as he runs.

      "Were attracting too much attention! Break up. Alex, Ramus, go with Luna. I can protect myself, so don't worry." Ranma shouts. He then takes a sharp turn to a different path. The others surprised at this runs on into a path apart from Ranma.

      "Ranma! NO!" Luna shouts. Luckily, they are forced to turn back as a more goblins rushes at them from that side. When they run back the way they came from, they realize that Ranma is there also, about to engage two groups of goblins.

      "Were surrounded!" Nall shouts to Caine as the group meets up with Ranma. They press into each other's back so that they won't be blindsided. 

      "Well, we got nothing to do but fight!" Ranma screams then hurls himself at the nearest goblin. The others rushes into the fight. The fighting was furious, and many wounds were dealt to the group. However, they managed to destroy the first wave of creatures.

      "Damn, how many more are there!" Caine shouts as he flys around, confusing the goblins. Just when the goblins look ready to attack again, laughter can be heard. They turn around and look to see see who it is.

      "HAHAHAHAHA You boys look as if you're in need of a help!" A stranger wearing a red beret with a large brown mustache says. He has the figure of a lumberjack, however the way he holds himself shows him to be an experienced fighter. 

      "Hey old man, this is our fight. Stay out from it." Ranma calls out cockily.

      "Ranma, we could use his help right about now!" Ramus shouts to the crazy boy who seems to want to die fighting the goblins. 

      "Ranma, now is NOT the time to be picky!" Nall and Caine shouts.

      "Ranma, stop being so rude. He's only trying to help." Luna tells him.

      "..." Alex stays silent. For in his heart, he wishes to fight these goblins also, showing Luna that he could take care of himself. He so desperately wanted to impress her. But he also knew and understood the danger of continuing the fight.

      "Well the boy has some guts! HAHAHA" The stranger says as he laughs heartily.

      The goblins, temporarily stopped from surprise of the appearance of the mysterious laughing stranger realize that the man isn't a danger at the moment. They then leap to attack the group, seeing that they were already weakened. The fight this time lasts longer, the group receives even more damage, and breathing harder than before. Alex, Luna, and Ramus somehow managed to reach the stranger as they fought. When the fighting was over, they then realized that Ranma was the only one left in the group.

      "So boy, you have some skills. But you seem to have gotten into a little pickle. Do ya want me to help ya out of it? Hahahaha" Shouts the man to Ranma.

      "The names Ranma, not boy. And you could keep your help to yourself!" Ranma shouts back.

      "Ranma! Are you crazy! You can't fight them all by yourself!" The group shouts to him.

      "Just watch me!" Saying so the fighting started.

      Luna turns to the stranger and pleads, "Please you have to help him! Please! He could die fighting them." 

      Hearing this, the stranger looks at her with pity in his eyes. "Girl, this Ranma of yours has the fighting spirit. He won't accept help from me. Rather, he would see it as an insult. Ranma is addicted, somehow he found the joy of your blood pumping as he faces the dangers. I've seen men like him. They wouldn't give up and accept help even if their life depended on it." Saying so, the mysterious stranger looks on.

      Luna shocked at what she heard can only watch as Ranma began his desperate battle. However, now that she looked carefully, she could see the fire burning in his eyes. Always there, a slow hot ember, now flares out wildly. She can see the joy that he feels as he jumps, dodges, and hits the goblins. Even the pain that he feels seem to make him more energetic, instead of hindering him.

      Damn, got to finish off this fight quickly. Hope I can still manage to pull it off Ranma then begins to start a spiral. The goblins. already enraged with battle lust and their inability to take down one human follows eagerly after him. Halfway through, Ranma starts losing his energy. The multitude of wounds finally catched up to him. He completes his spiral just as he falters. RANMA SAOTOME NEVER LOSES! Thinking this he throws his arm into the air, seeming to create an uppercut.

      Luna and the rest looks on in despair as Ranma is slowly, but surely being worn down. Then, as the goblins follow, they seem to close in on him. The moments seems to go in slow motion as they see every step he takes, every drop of blood and sweat he drips, and they see his falter, the legs give out. Ranma slowly falls backwards, and this moment seems captured in time. The goblins seeing their chance leap into the air to kill the pesky human. To them, Ranma seemed to throw out his arm in one last feeble attempt at warding off their attacks. And misses. Luna throws her hand in front of her face covering her eyes and screams. They all watch in shock as Ranma screams one last time with his fight with the goblins.

      "HIRYU SHOTEN HA!!!"

***END OF CHAPTER 3***

Author's notes: Hello to those who actually wanted to read my stories. Sorry for not writing anything. I stopped writing for a while. Damn school and studying for the SAT and SAT II's can be a bitch. I'll try to write more often. Also, there where some of you who wanted me to make the chapters before better, I'll get to that when I have the time. The only reason his even came out this early is because of the mails I've got. Thank you to those people.

Also, as most will notice after reading this chapter, I'm not too good at writing fight scenes, so if any of you can help me out by writing me hints, helps, or actually want to help write a fight scene with me, then please contact me. E-mail is Maverickmage@hotmail.com.


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and Lunar Silver Star Story Complete does not belong to me. They belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Working Designs respectively.

In your dreams, magical thoughts,

All things are real, unless you dream they're not.

In your dreams, love is the plot,

Carried on wings of hope.

Each of our souls intertwine when we do,

Instantly we see it, the time to grow and be it,

When everything is pinned on a hope.

Let rise the dreams of your heart,

That innocent you, careless and kind,

Free to roam the breeze in love,

Only when two brightly shine as one.

***Chapter 4***

            Alex, Nall, Caine, Ramus, Luna, and the stranger sat around the campfire with Ranma sleeping nearby. Everyone looks as if deep in thought, probably thinking of what happened a few short hours ago. Caine then looks up and faces the stranger. "Hey old man, just who are you?" 

            The stranger looks up in surprise then bursts out laughing. "I'm who I am." The stranger replies.

           "That's not an answer old man." Caine growls. "Now who are you really?"

            "What a hapless bunch you are! You're lucky I happened to come along when I did! Didn't you know that these woods are ridiculously dangerous for ordinary travelers? Are you lost? Or out on a picnic?" The stranger says, avoiding the question.

            "WHAT!? You didn't do anything! Ranma was the only one who fought to the end. You just stood by and did nothing! And you're avoiding our questions." Nall exclaims as he looks at the man incredulously. Then he mumbles under his breath, "Picnic? Lost? Ha! As if we would ever get lost. Goin' on an adventure…"

            "What! An adventure!" saying this, the man starts laughing again. "What a grand idea. An adventure. Well nice to meet you adventurers. I am Laike. And for your information cat, I happen to have helped a lot. Did you think to wonder why the monsters aren't attacking?"

            "Now that I think about it, why aren't the monsters attacking. I don't even see one near here." Luna remarks as she looks around.

            "The reason is because of the herbs that I'm burning in the fire. The smell repels the monsters for a while. It should last till dawn tomorrow." Laike says as he proceeds to throw a few more leaves of a strange plant into the fire.

            "Alex, you should watch and learn. You're fighting certainly needed more practice. I should tell Ranma to train you harder from now on." Luna said to Alex in a half serious and half mocking tone. However saying this, brought back the memory of the battle that took place a few moments ago and everyone becomes sober.

            Ranma who was sleeping nearby starts to move and then wakes up. He sits up quickly and looks around alarmingly. After noting that no creatures seems to be nearby and all the rest of the crew are safe, he calms down and looks at the group watching him with a curious expression. "Do you guys have any food? Man, I'm starving!" Everyone makes a massive facefault. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

            "Ranma! You're alright!" Luna shouts and rushes to him and gives him a bone crushing hug. (She's the first one to recover) Then everyone else recovers from their stupor and rushes to him also. They then start launching questions at him simultaneously.

            ""Hold up!" Laike shouts as he raises his hand and quiets the group. "Let the boy rest. All of your questions are just confusing him. Okay, now lets ask him one question at a time."

            "What happened?" Ranma asks as he looks around to find a large clearing with splinters of woods everywhere. "All I remember is using the shiryu shoten ha."

            "Ranma, you were fighting all the goblins by yourself. Then, it seemed as if you were getting cornered by those creatures. You then threw up your arm and missed the goblins. We all thought that you would die." Saying this, tears starts to drop from Luna's eyes. "You then shouted hiryu shoten ha. A HUGE tornado then appeared and drew in all the goblins around you. The tornado started getting larger as it went on, pulling trees outs by it's roots. Finally it drew you in also."

           "So… That's what happened." Ranma murmurs to himself. "After all this years, I guess I still didn't lose my touch."

            "Ranma? What did you do? That tornado… I didn't know you could do that." Alex says morosely. "Since when do you control magic? I thought that you were like us guys, magicless."

            "Hmmm? Oh! The hiryu shoten ha. That isn't magic Alex. It's a special use of ki. I taught you about it when I was trying to teach you the katchu tenshin amaguriken, but you ended up learning the Sword Dance instead right?" Seeing Alex nod, Ranma goes on saying, "Well, the Hiryu Shoten Ha also uses ki, but in a different way. You have to get rid of your emotions so that when you do call up a battle aura, it'll be cold. The opponent who should be creating hot aura is then led around in a spiral. The heat and cold mixes, so that when I throw my arm up into the sky, it creates a tornado."

            "AHHH." Was more or less the general sound that came out of everyone's mouth. (Well except for Ramus' huh? Sound.  But we'll ignore it this time.)

            Laike then turns to Alex and asks him about his life, and tales are told and emotions relieved of its trouble went up.  They all talked late into the night before they went to sleep.  As each soon fell asleep, Laike murmurs "He has the green eyes…" Then he too lay down for a little snooze.

            "The green eyes?" Ranma mutters.  He was actually alert, pretending to sleep.  Then he closes his eyes again to think about this new development.

***

            Alex stirs and wakes up as the sun hits his eyes.  "What the… Is it morning already?  Hey guys, it's time to wake up."  Saying so, he stands up to stretch and watches everyone else wake up.  He then looks to the sky and smiles, after all, he is finally going on his grand adventure.  As he was feeling refreshed, a thought strikes him.  "Hey, where is Laike?"

            "Laike…?" Nall yawns out.  "Maybe he went to the nearby bush to conduct some business. Hehehehe."

            "Nope.  He left early in the morning today."  Ranma says, filling in the information gap. 

            "What? Why?" Alex says, disappointed because he wanted to talk to Laike a bit.  Ask him about the mans adventures and such.  Then he brightens as he turns to Ranma.  "Hey Ranma, I think that I was in a shock yesterday, but I still have some questions to ask you about that move you did.  Where did you learn it?"

            Caught in a trap, Ranma quickly searches his mind for a quick excuse.  "Ummm, I uhhh, forgot.  Yeah that's it, I forgot.  Must have hit my head yesterday." Saying this, he starts laughing hysterically with his hand behind his head.

            "I didn't see any wounds on your head yesterday Ranma."  Luna says as she approaches them.

            "You didn't?"

            "Nope.  Not a single bump."

            "Uhhhh…" Ranma then suddenly points behind Alex and shouts, "Hey a five piece silver!"  Everyone swivels around. ( more because of the fact that someone pointed at something and shouted look rather than the fact that they actually wanted the silver.  Well… may be except for Ramus.)  Ranma then dashes like a maniac towards the exit.

            "Hey Ranma!  Come back here!"  And the chase begins.

            "Hey I don't see any…" Ramus FINALLY figures out that he was left behind and then he starts running after them. (More of a walking pace really.)

Author's note: Well this story was more of a story written when I was stumped.  Then there is the fact that there is no action in this.  I'm sorry to all those that have tried to support me in the past.

A good news for those of you who likes my fics, but don't like the fact that it comes out so damn late.  I lost my internet access.  Translation: Since I lost the connection, I'll probably write more at home now, rather than surfing the net.


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer:  I don't own Lunar Silver Star Story nor Ranma ½.  So please don't sue me.

In your dreams, magical thoughts,

All things are real unless you dream they're not.

In your dreams, love is the plot,

Carried on wings of hope.

Each of our souls intertwine when we do,

Instantly we see it the time to grow and be it,

When everything is pinned on a hope.

Let rise the dreams of your heart,

That innocent youth, careless and kind,

Free to roam the breeze in love,

Only when two brilliantly shine as one!

"Speech."

Thoughts

(My Comments)

Dragonmaster 5

            We see the group walking along the path talking to each other in animated voices.  As they walk over the final green hill, a simultaneous gasp is heard.  They finally made it to Saith the sister village of Burg.  As they enter the village, they see a city fairly larger than Burg.  And the reason for this is that merchants visit Saith often from different continents because it is a harbor town. 

***Saith***

            "Hey, I was wondering…  How are we gonna get to Meribia?"  Ranma asked the group as they walked into the village.

            "By taking a ship.  Duh Ranma."  Ramus replied in a voice dripping with sarcasm.  "How did you think that we were gonna get there?  Swim?"

            By this time, Ranma was getting pretty steamed at Ramus.  "Well genius, if you know everything… How are we gonna pay for the ship huh?  The last time I checked, going on a ship wasn't for free.  If you miraculously brought some money with you, then I won't say anything."  Letting his anger out, Ranma made a smart statement without even thinking about it.  He addressed a point that no one thought of.  Then as an after thought, Ranma muttered under his breath, "Ahhh…  swimming there wouldn't be so bad.  It can't be worse than swimming from China to Japan."

            At this comment from Ranma, everyone grew silent.  Than Alex spoke up, "You know, just how are we gonna pay for it?  I didn't bring any money with me.  Did any of you guys?"  Looking at each of them, questioningly, all the answer he got was a negative.  

As they sat near the Althena statue, thinking about their plight, a group of villagers walk by saying, "You know…  That guy at the bar… What was his name again? Oh yeah…Brett!  Anyway Brett is sure hell of a good gambler.  I mean, I saw this guy playing against him today and he lost all his money….  I mean that poor guy just started bawling his eyes out."

As this group of villagers pass, Ramus' eyes starts to gleam.  "You know what?  I just figured out how to make money for us!" 

"Yeah? How?" Alex asked eagerly.  He just started the adventure that he always dreamed of and had no intention of going back to his parents because he didn't have any money.  

"I could go and gamble with that guy Brett."  Seeing the others look at him incredulously Ramus says, "I mean it.  How many people do you know that is a better gambler than me?"

Everyone starts to get excited then Nall had to open his big mouth, "Well… Don't you need money to gamble?  I mean what are we gonna bet on our side?"  

"Plus…  This guy seems like a pro.  From what I heard, this guy might just be the best!  Imagine, making some full-grown man cry.  That's just not right!"  Caine said adding his two cents for things to worry about.

Then the group went back to being depressed again.  As they sit around trying to think up other ways to make money, Ranma speaks up, "Well… I brought some money for food…"

Hearing this, everyone pounces on him asking, "HOW MUCH?"

Taking out his pouch, he replies, "Well, only about 100 silvers…"

Taking the pouch, Ramus excitedly yell, "All right!  Come on, lets go guys."

"Hey! Wait!  I didn't say that I would let you guys spend my money!  Come on… Give it back.  Guys?  Guys?"  Seeing them walk away without hearing a word that he was saying, he sighs in defeat and runs to catch up to them.

As the walk around the town looking for the bar that Brett is supposed to be in, they spot the harbor station.  "Hey, you guys.  Lets see if the captain will let us go on the ship for free."  Ranma says as he tries desperately to save his money.  (Hey, his hungry all the time.  He can't really help it.)  "It might be kinda hard trying to win enough money to take us all."

Looking at each other, the group shrugs and decides to try it out.  What could hurt after all?  As they enter the station, they see a LONG line of people standing in line in front of the desk.

"Excuse me.  Oops sorry.  Pardon me…" Saying this, the group pushed their way to the front.  There stood a sailor who looked bedraggled. 

"Umm, excuse me… sir?  But we have to ask you a question about the voyage to Meribia."  Luna says as she looks at the man.

"Look, I told you people before.  We currently don't have a map sooo… we can't set sail.  If you really have a problem, take it up with the captain right there."  Saying this, he points at the man sitting in a corner trying his best to get himself drunk.  

            The group walks over to the man.  "Umm… Excuse me sir?  We were wonderin-"  Luna was about to ask when she was interrupted by Nall.

            "Look old man.  We have to get to get to Meribia fast.  We need a ride.  We need to…  Are you listening?"  Not getting any response from the captain,  Nall flies close to the man and whacks the man in the noggin. 

            Ranma and Caine just stands back and laughs their head off. 

"Nall!  That's not nice.  He looks really worried."  Luna admonished Nall.  "I'm sorry sir, but my friend here was just anxious to get to Meribia.  We were wondering if we could have a ride.  We don't have any money at the moment, but we'll pay you as soon as-"

"Look girl.  I might think about taking you to Meribia, but the thing is…"

Everyone puts their heads closer to the old sea captain as he mumbles something.  "What old man?  Can you speak up?  We can't hear you."  Caine says as he tries to make out what the man is saying.  The man says it a little louder, but it's not enough.  "What?  I can't hear you!"

The captain then just bursts out saying, "I LOST THE MAP!  YOU HAPPY NOW?  I LOST IT! I LOST IT! I LOST IT!"  Screaming this, the man starts to weep.  "I lost it gambling."  He mumbles out.  As he sits there crying, everyone is on the ground looking up at the man in shock.  (They fell down when he screamed you see.)

"WHAT, WHAT DID YOU LOSE YA FREAK!"  Ranma hollers back.  Now angry at the man.

"The sea chart.  Without it, I can't navigate anywhere."

"Umm…  Did you lose it to a man named Brett?"  Ramus asks he stands up.  Getting an affirmative nod, he asks one more question.  "Will you let us go on your ship for free if we get the map back?"

Looking up, the man's eyes shining with new hope says, "Well, if you kids get it, sure I'll take you.  I'll take you anywhere you want to go." 

"Well, it's a deal then."  Ramus says in a triumphant voice.  Turning around, he exclaims, "Time to GAMBLE!"

Hearing this, Ranma looks downcast as he realizes that his chance of saving his money and having a quick bite just went down the drain.  (He's very cynical when it comes down to gambling.  Hey… If he's not good at it, then who?)  

As they walk out of the store, Luna turns to Nall.  "Nall, you were very rude in there today.  You should behave more." Luna says.  Behind her, Ranma and Caine just tries to smother their laughter.  "I mean, I would have expected this from Ranma or Caine, but you?"  Hearing this Ranma and Caine abruptly stops their laughter.  Behind them, Alex and Ramus starts to laugh.

"Hey look!  I think that's the bar.  Let's go."  Ramus points towards the tavern.  Inside, they see bunch of guys getting drunk.  However, what stands out is the man in the corner.  It's not the man's look that attracts their attention, rather because of the men around him.  They all had depressed looks about them, but whenever they looked at the man, the looked as if they were going to kill.

"That must be Brett, come on, let's go."  Saying this, Ramus struts towards Brett with a confidant grin about his face.  "Are you the one known as Brett?"  

With an amused grin on his face, he replies "Yeah.  Who wants to know?"

"I do.  I came here to challenge you to a gambling duel."  Ramus says it as if he's announcing that someone's dead.  (I'm remarking on how seriously Ramus says the line)

"Yeah?  Shouldn't you be in bed little boy?"  Brett says mockingly.  

"Ha!  Well, if you don't think that you could beat me…" Ramus says, leaving the sentence hanging.

"Afraid?  Me?  Well kid, you just lost your lunch money.  Come on then let's see what you got."  Brett exclaims, goaded into a match by Ramus.  "I'm sure that you don't have a lot of money on you so I'll make this easy.  Lets say we start off betting 10 silvers."

"Well, that's fine with me.  Shall we start?"

"Okay, here's the rule for the game.  I'll flip this coin here and you call out whether it's heads or tails.  If you're wrong, I win.  If you're right, then I lose.  Got that?"

"Wait.  We didn't say what we wanted if you lose."

Hearing this, Brett smirks and says, "Yeah? Well then, what do you want?"

Ramus just ignores the smirk and says, "We want the sea chart."

"Is that all?  Well be prepared to leave, because you're not getting anything."

"Yeah.  Now hurry up with it already." Ramus says impatiently.  He then turns to the group and whispers, "I got this one in the bag.  The game is elementary.  Even a two year old can play it."

"Alright Ramus.  We're cheering for ya." Nall says as he flies around Ramus' head. 

"Good luck Ramus." Alex says with Luna.

"Luck?  I don't need luck for this game."

"Well you better not lose all my money chunko." Ranma says playfully.  It seems that Ramus' confidence was getting to everyone.

Brett just stands by watching the friends exchange words with a bored expression. "Done talking to your pals kid?  Let's get this over with.  Ready? Go!"  Saying this, Brett flicks the coin into the air.

"Heads!" As Ramus shouts out his choice.  As the coin falls, everyone watches it intensely.  Hoping.  As it slowly falls back into Brett's palm, all is quiet.

Brett then slowly opens his hand and a confidant grin comes to his face.  "Tails.  You lose.  Well that was fun kids, but playtimes over.  Now shoo."  With these words, Brett dismisses the group.

"Well good going chunky.  Now we lost some of our money too."  Ranma says angrily.  

"Hey Ranma, don't get so mad.  He had a fifty percent chance of winning." Alex says, trying his best to calm Ranma down.

Ramus just stands there calmly.  "I should have won that toss.  Well, I'll try one more time."  Hearing this, Ranma just shakes his head and looks at the match.

"What?  You want to go again?  Well alright, but don't go crying home to your mama for losing all your money."  Saying this, Brett tosses the coin into the air once more.

"Heads!"

"Well good try kid.  But it's tails.  Maybe next time." Saying this, Brett opens his hand and lo and behold, it was tails.

Shaking his head in disgust, Ranma turns around and leaves saying, "Well, forget this.  I'm going out for a walk.  See ya guys.  And I'm taking my money too.  I'm hungry.  We'll just figure out another way of getting to Meribia." (I know Ranma would never give up, but he's annoyed with the way things are going.  And who knows, maybe he wised up after losing everything that he had when the Gambling King came around.  Ranma usually does learn from his mistakes.) 

As the gang watches Ranma leave, Nall says, "Now what are we gonna do?  Ranma is the only one with the money."

Luna looks at everyone then finally says, "Here, I'll go and convince Ranma to come back.  In the meanwhile, you guys think up a new idea." Then she ran out of the tavern.

Alex, Ramus, Nall, and Caine looks at each other then sits down to think.  All of a sudden, Ramus stands up, surprising the rest.  With his eyes shining with a brilliant light, he exclaims, "I got an idea!"

"Yeah? What is it?" Caine asks eagerly.  Thinking that maybe this new idea may cheer up Ranma when he comes back.

"We don't need Ranma's money to play.  We have some thing else."

"Why do I get a sinking feeling about this?" Alex whispers to the rest as he looks at one of his best friend cackle like a maniac.  To this comment, Nall and Caine could only nod.

Ramus then puts his hand into his pocket and takes out the Dragon's Diamond.  "Here, I'll bet thi-"

Just before Ramus was able to say anything, Alex tackles Ramus from the behind and clasps a hand around Ramus' mouth.  "Ramus…  Just what do you think you're doing?"

"Betting of course.  Come on, this time I KNOW I can win."

"Yeah? Well you said the same thing for all the other tosses also."  Alex hisses.  Then Ramus starts to struggle to get free from Alex's grasp.  Hoping to save the crystal, Alex just holds unto Ramus' arms tighter.  "Nall, Caine, help me.  Ramus is acting like an idiot!"

(We'll leave Alex to deal with Ramus and go to Ranma and Luna)

Ranma walks outside the door and looks around.  Inside, he was feeling mixed emotions.  He knew that Ramus was good at gambling, but the fact that Ramus lost twice in a row was a real blow to his moral.  After all, if even Ramus couldn't win, then who could?  He had no illusions about his Gambling ability.  The only reason he won against the Gambling King was because he had all night to practice (which didn't help much) and had that bandage around his face, which allowed him to cheat.  It was his style of Anything Goes after all.  Lost in thought, he didn't notice that he walked out of town nor did he notice that Luna was running after him.

"Ranma!  Wait up!  Ranma!" Luna called out as she chased after him.  It was weird that he wasn't answering her.  Usually, he gave her his full attention whenever she talked to him.  Finally catching up, she noticed that Ranma seemed to be lost deep in thought.  Looking at him curiously, she went up to him and tapped him on the shoulder.  "Ranma?"  

This seems to startle Ranma out of his thought as he looked at Luna.  "Luna?  What are you doing here?"

"I followed you silly." Luna answers with a chipper voice.  Then with a more worried tone she asks, "Ranma are you alright?"

Ranma looks surprised at the question, then answers, "Of course I'm alright.  Why do you ask?"

"I don't know…  Usually you're so happy about everything, but lately… Well lately you seem more depressed.  Ranma, if you're worried about something, then… I want you to know that I'll always be there for you." Then blushing at what she said, she lowers her head and adds in a more softer tone, "We all are."

Ranma stands there, at first not knowing what to say.  Then he smiles and places a hand on Luna's shoulder.  Surprised, she looks up at Ranma.  The only words to come out of Ranma's mouth are, "I know."  They continue to walk aimlessly in a comfortable silence.  

In front of them looms a forest.  Here, dark trees loom.  Yet it doesn't really give off the menacing feel that it seems to try and project.  Ranma looks around and finally realizes that they standing in front of the entrance into the forest. Even though the forest looked exciting, (somewhat) Ranma decided to pass the trip into the forest.  After all, Luna was there and he didn't want to get her into any trouble.  However, as he was about to turn around and head back to the village, a sharp shrill scream was heard inside the forest.  Ranma and Luna looks at each other before they dash into the forest.

"Do you have any idea where that sound came from?"  Ranma asks Luna, looking around for any signs of danger.

Shaking her head in a negative answer, she says, "I'm not sure, but I think it came in from somewhere deeper in the forest.  Let's try going in deeper."  Saying this, Luna and Ranma runs straight following the path.  Strangely, to Ranma's surprise, he doesn't encounter any monsters.  

"Hey, Luna… Shouldn't there be some monsters here or something?  It seems kinda fishy."

"Yeah, I know what you mean.  But Ranma, not everywhere is filled with monster just because it looks like it does."

"I guess so."  Ranma replies with a hint of doubt in his voice.  Soon they come to a clearing and a sight that grinds Ranma to a halt.  In front of him are rows of what seems to be traps.  A poorly made one that has no chance of catching anything.  "What the heck is this…" Saying this, Ranma kneels down in front of one of the traps to examine what was used as bait.  What he sees just stuns him.  "I can't believe this.  What kind of a psycho would do this?"

Luna meanwhile is slowly becoming more and more nervous.  It seems that Ranma found some sort of horrible thing underneath the trap.  She tentatively pokes Ranma's shoulder as he starts to rise with whatever was inside.  "Ranma…?  What's wrong?"  Ranma doesn't say anything and the comment of a psycho doing this makes her all the more nervous.  "Ranma?"

Ranma slowly turns around, holding onto whatever was inside.  "What kind of a psycho… what kind of a psycho would…"  As he pauses, Luna leans closer to satisfy her curiosity, no matter how much she dreads it.  "What kind of a… (ok, I think I stalled you guys enough.) … FREAKIN' IDIOT WOULD USE A BANANA FOR BAIT?!"

Luna falls down on her duff at Ranma's sudden outburst.  At first, the emotion that she experiences is one of surprise, which slowly turns into one of anger.  Thinking in her mind RANMA!  I'm gonna KILL YOU!   But as she sees Ranma standing over her with righteous indignation holding the banana, she couldn't help but laugh.  She could never hold a grudge against Ranma for long anyway.  

Ranma looks surprised then realizes what he said, put a hand behind his head and starts laughing also and this slowly breaks out into hysterical, blown out laughter..  Here, they let out the tension that was built up in them when they were running in the forest.  As they were laughing, a voice which sounded familiar shouted out, "Hey you guys.  Can you stop laughing for a sec and come and help me out of here?" 

Startled, they stop laughing and comes over for a look.  Here, they see the foot of a person sticking out from one of the traps.  Wondering where he heard the voice before, Ranma racks his brain for the information.  Then it finally dawned on him.  "Hey… You're the guy that screamed a few minutes ago huh?  I almost didn't recognize you.  That scream was more high pitched, but it has the same annoying tone to it."  

"JUST GET ME OUT OF HERE!" 

"Alright alright.  Don't burst a vein man." Chuckling, Ranma lifts the trap off the stranger.  "There happy now?  Now if you don't mind, tell us who you are."

Nash stands up, then he takes out a comb, spinning the way a gunslinger might spin.  Raising it to his hair, he stops the spinning and swipes his hair with a vertical swipe.  Then spinning it again, Nall puts the comb back into wherever the hell it came from.  After doing all this, Nall now opens his mouth and says "Hey there, kiddies!  My name's Nash!  I'm a level 3 apprentice from the famous magic city of Vane that floats around the Goddess Tower.  The area around the Sea Hag's house can be a little tricky, so be sure to watch your step around here, okay?" 

Ranma steps up to the smiling idiot and smacks him across the head.  "What the hell was that?  You just sounded like a freakin' advertisement.  Stop talking like your in front of a T.V. and talk normally."  Saying this, Ranma just shakes his head and walks back to Luna  muttering under his breathe, "Idiot."  Nash just stood there looking stupefied and wondering, What's a T.V.? 

"Ranma…"  Luna said with a disapproving voice.

"Hah!  At least someone appreciates me!"  Nash crowed.  And a pretty one at that. 

"Nash was it?"  Seeing Nash nod, Ranma continues on to say, "Well Nash, just shut up."  Then he turns to Luna and says with his hurt puppy look, "But Luna… He had it coming to him.  Telling us to watch out about this woods when he's the one stuck under the lamest trap.  He was probably trying to get a banana!"

Hearing this, Luna couldn't help but giggle.  "Still Ranma…"  Then she turns to Nash and says, "Nash?  Umm…  What are you doing here anyway?"

Puffing out his chest, he not so modestly says, "Me?  I'm here on an errand for Ghaleon.  I'm his apprentice."

"Ghaleon?  Isn't that one of the four hero's?"  Ranma says with some confusion.

"Isn't he one of the four hero's?  Is that all you can say?  HE'S THE GREATEST!  Every kid pretends to be him when they are young!  I mean… surely you must have pretended to be him."  Nash yells.

Ranma just looks at him and scratches the back of his head.  "The greatest?  I don't know…  I always played Dragonmaster Dyne when I was a kid.  If not, I pretended to be someone else, but never Ghaleon."

It looked as if Nash was about to have a stroke.

"Hey Ranma, look."  Saying this, Luna pointed towards the house that he didn't notice a moment ago. 

"I wonder who lives in here?"  Saying this Ranma takes the lead as he walks into the house.  Around them where chickens flapping around everywhere.  As they enter the house, they find it empty.  Or so they thought until they hear some mumbling at the back of the house.  When they head in that direction, they see a hideously ugly hag.  The first thought that pops into Ranma's mind and out his mouth is "Whoa, I didn't know the old ghoul had a sister."  

Obviously, the hag's hearing was as sharp as it ever was which Ranma soon found out as he was smacked in the head with a cane.  

"What d'ya do that for?"  Ranma complained as he rubbed his head.

"Insolent whelp.  Why are you guys in my house.  Git!"  She made shooing motions as she tried to hustle the group outside the house.  

"We're sorry for having disturbed you.  We'll be going home now."  Luna then bowed and was about to leave, when she turned around and asked the hag, "You wouldn't to know how we can get to Meribia do you?"  Normally she wouldn't have asked, but a she had some sort of compulsion telling her to.  

"Just take a ship there girl.  Like most people."

Seeing how roughly the hag acted towards Luna, Ranma started to get angry.  When he was about to open his mouth and say something, Luna held up a hand.  "Well we would have taken the ship, but the captain lost his Sea Chart gambling to a man named Brett."

The hag's mouth split into a grin as she reached inside her robe and took out a tattered piece of parchment.  "You wouldn't happen to have been looking for this would you?"  And lo and behold, it was the Sea Chart.

"Hey how do you have it?" Ranma asks, curiously. 

"Never mind the details sonny boy.  Well, do you want it?"  The old hag asks.  Seeing the group nod, the hag cackles with glee and says, "Well… Nothing's free in life.  What would you offer for it?"

"We don't have anything ya old hag." (Need I mention who said this?)

"Ohh?  How about that Water Cane of yours?"

Nash looks at his Water Cane and yelps, "THIS? You must be insane lady.  Ghaleon gave me this and I will never give it to you."

Ranma advances towards Nash, cracking his fingers.  "Yeah?  Then I guess I'll just have to change your mind."

"Ranma!"  Then she looks at Nash and says, "Nash, we really need the Sea Chart.  Will you please let her have the cane?"  Obviously, Nash can't handle the charms of Luna.  Croaking out a meek protest hands over the Water Cane to the hag.  

"Excellent.  Here is the Sea Chart as promised."

"Thanks Nash."  Luna says as she beams a smile at him.

"Uhh… Well, it was nothing."  Nash says, embarrassed. 

Just as they turn around to go, Ramus and Alex, along with Nall and Caine comes rushing in.  Alex speaks up, "Man, the monsters out there are pretty tough.  There were a lot of treasure chest out there also. But man, some were booby trapped."  Alex then looks around and notices Ranma, Luna, and Nash.  "Uhh, who's the new guy?"

"I am Nash, a level 3 magician who is also apprentice to Ghal…" As Nash rambles on, Alex comes joins Ranma.

"Hey, what are you guys doing here anyway?" Alex asked Ranma.  

"Us?  Well we were walking by this woods when we heard a scream.  When we came and checked, we found him."  While saying this, Ranma pointed at Nash who kept on bragging about himself.  "What about you guys?"

"Well, we finally won the toss from Brett."  Alex replied.

Hearing this, Ranma got curious.  He was sure that none of them had any money.  They told him that unless… "You guys were holding money out on me?!"

"No no no no."  Alex quickly said shaking his head.  "Well, it happened like this…"

-FLASKBACK-

We see Ramus being held back by Alex, Nall, and Caine. 

"Ramus! Are you crazy?  You can't bet the diamond."  Nall screamed out.

"Maybe we should think about this a little bit more." Alex said, trying to reason with his gambling hooked friend.

Ramus finally turns around and looks at them.  He then whispers into their ears, "Look guys, I think that this guy's cheating.  My guess is that one side of his coin is heavier than the other.  So that if you call out the side, he quickly switches them.  It's impossible that I lost twice in a row!"

Caine just looks at him with an exasperated look and says, "Ramus, my boy.  It's okay that you lost twice.  Everyone doesn't win all the time.  I think that this loss went to your head."

"No no no no.  I think he's cheating."

"Yeah?  And what if you lose the diamond?  Huh?  What then?"

"Well, I'm gonna have to knock him down anyway to check the coin.  If he wasn't cheating, then when he's on the ground, Nall, you grab the diamond, and we run like mad."  Ramus says triumphantly with a large grin.

-END OF FLASHBACK-

Hearing this story, a large sweat drop appears on everyone's head.

"Sooo… What happened?"  Luna asked, now curious.

"Well, it turned out he was cheating.  But Brett told us that the old Sea Hag had it.  Then he gave us this Fortune Cane.  So we came here to try and see if we can get the map back from the Sea Hag."  Alex said.

"A Fortune Cane?"

Everyone looks back to see who said this and noticed the hag.  It seems everyone forgot about her during the whole confusion.  "Here let me see it boy."  When Ramus handed her the cane, she inspects it carefully then puts it into her robe.  "Thank you boy.  Just what I needed."

"Hey what the…" It looked as if Ramus was about to say more but it looked like the old hag just fell asleep.  Unwilling to touch her to get the cane back, and the mere fact that she put it INSIDE her robe where it would touching her bare skin sickened him.  So he just let the matter drop.

"We got the chart already anyway.  Sooo… let's go back now."  And they walked back.

When they entered the ship station, they returned the chart back to the captain.  Weeping and thanking them profusely, he told them to the inn and take a nap because they were going to Meribia tomorrow.  The group walked to the nearest inn and fell dead asleep, tired of all the action that happened today.  The next morning, they rose with the rooster's crow.  With the sun shining brightly, the day seemed as if it were going to be perfect.  

"Hey, come on guys.  The boat is going to be leaving soon.  Let's get there early!" Alex shouted.

"Yeah, I'm coming.  We ALL are." Ranma said.  Unhappy about the early wake.

As the group reached the station, a huge commotion had everyone gathered around.  "Hey, what's going on?"  Caine asked as he flew around.  When the group finally reached the captain after pushing and shoving, they found out why.  It seemed that some kind of a huge monster appeared out of the ocean and decided to have the boat as a lunch.  

"Aww.  Doesn't this ever end?  It seems as if the gods are against us."  Ranma groaned out. Looking up at the sky, Ranma mutters,  "I mean, we got the damn chart, isn't that enough?"  Ranma was extremely tired of all the commotion.  He was just getting used to a little peace and quiet.  However, if you looked at his eyes carefully, you would have noticed a raging fire in the eyes.  The old excitement that he experienced so long ago…  The chaos that ruled his life…  It seems that he missed that part of life more than he thought or admitted even to himself.

"Come on guys!  Time to go and kick some butt!"  Ranma yelled out as he ran for the ship.

The others quickly joined in.  After all, they couldn't leave the crazy git to go and kill himself.  So they ran after him in order to get his chestnuts out of the fire.  As they ran onto the deck of the ship, they saw what resembled to be a huge booger with a hard center.  Imagine a blue booger with a brain in the center with eyes and a mouth.  That is basically how it looked like.

"Man that is one ugly son of a-" Ranma didn't have the chance to complete his sentence as the large monster suddenly attacked.

"Ranma!  Watch out!" Caine shouted out.  Thankfully, Ranma saw it move just in time and jumped out of the way.  Out of the side of his eyes, he saw the rest of the group rush onto the ship.  

"Ha ha!  A monster.  Perfect.  I'll show you what a real magician can do."  Nash cried out.  Then he chanted and from his hand grew a ball of lightning.  "LIGHTNING BOMB!" As he screamed out the name of the spell, he hurled the glowing ball at the monster.  It flew straight towards the monster, however before it reached it, the ball exploded and streaks of lightning came out and struck the monster.  "How's that for a REAL show of power."  Nash crowed out.  That is until the monster healed most of the damage done to it.

"What the hell is this thing!?" Ranma yelled out to the captain.  

"It's called a Saline Slimer!  The monster usually lives deep in the ocean but surfaces once in a while.  It's able to regenerate most of its body.  The only way to kill it is to do more damage than it can heal itself."

"Well then…  I guess we have to hit this thing pretty hard."  Ranma murmured to himself as he got ready for battle.

Alex  looked at Nash and said, "Hey Nash!  I'll show you what power is like!"  Saying this, Alex got into a stance and started concentrating in gathering ki into his body.  First, all that was visible was a small aura of blue.  Then Alex screamed out "VIGOR!" and the blue flame erupted around him, strengthening his body at an incredible pace.

While this was going on, the rest of the group tried to stall for time.  Luna sang the Cascade Song and her magical voice gave strength to Ramus, the person who was having the most trouble battling the Slimer.  Ramus wasn't able to do any magic nor able to concentrate enough to use his ki.  Thankfully, his bulk gave him some strength and this compensated for most of it. 

Ranma in the other hand was proficient in the use of ki.  This allowed him to gather up his ki faster than Alex could.  Ranma also used his ki for a different purpose than Alex.  While Alex used his to boost his attacking power, Ranma just used his to increase defense so that he could soften the blows from the monster.  Unfortunately, he is unable to produce his ki blast from the lack of the use of his ki in this life.

"Hey! Ranma!"  Ramus called out.  "Why don't you do that tornado thingy?" 

"You idiot!  Didn't you listen when I was explaining that move to you?  There has to be hot ki around for me to turn it into Hiryu Shoten Ha.  This damn monster is practically made up of water.  It doesn't generate near enough hot ki."  

"…" Was basically all Ramus could say to that.

As Ranma was battling the Slimer, he had to avoid being hit by the monster.  However, not even Ranma can keep on avoiding without getting tired.  Just when Ranma thought that the monster was going to attack physically again, it rolled up its head and shot out a gob of mucus.  Surprised at the sudden change of attack, Ranma wasn't prepared for it and got hit.  "WHAT the HELL is this!"  When Ranma tried to move to get the guck off him, he realized that he was stuck.  

As Ranma was struggling, the Slimer noticed that one of its preys was unmoving.  Seeing victory was near, it slowly approached its target.  Ranma was too busy trying to move that he didn't notice until the others cried out a warning.  But by then, it was already too late.  The Slimer then made its move and started battering away at Ranma.  As the hits landed solidly, not even his aura was enough to dampen the attacks.  Ranma screamed in pain as the monster did its best to turn Ranma into a pancake.

Luna cried out and covered her eyes as she saw Ranma being beaten to a pulp. The others were only able to watch, unable to turn their gaze from the terrible sight.  Luna turned to Alex, "Please, Alex… You have to do something!" 

Alex turned to Luna, then back at the scene.  Nodding his head with grim knowledge of what he has to do, he runs to the scene.  As he approaches the monster, he leaps up into the air and comes slashing downward at the monster.  The Slimer being too occupied beating the crap out of Ranma doesn't notice.  As Alex is just about to land on its back he yells "SWORD DANCE" After being imbued to the max with his ki, the attack moves ten times faster than it normally would.  From the monster flew chunks of jelly like skin.  Roaring in pain, the monster quickly backs up.  Unwilling to let go of his advantage, Alex pushes himself off the ground and leaps straight at the monster calling out his fury of swords again.

While Alex was fighting off the monster, the rest of the group ran towards Ranma still encased in the substance.  As they neared him however, the substance dissolved away and Ranma fell to the ground.  When checked, he was found to be unconscious.  Suffering severe bruising, and when checked more carefully had several broken ribs and possible internal bleeding.  From the way he coughed out blood, his lung seemed to have been pierced also.  Luna quickly sang a song of healing, however, some type of interference seems to be interfering and Ranma only healed a little.  She tried to use the spell again, however, Nash quickly stopped her.

"Don't use anymore of your spells.  It won't work."

"What do you mean it won't work.  How do you know that!  I can't… I can't just leave him like this….  I… I have to try."  

"No.  Look carefully at his body."  Nash commanded her in a firm voice.

When Luna did as he told her to, she noticed a faint blue aura around him.  "What's going on?" she asks, confused.  

"It seems that he has some sort of magic working around him.  The magic must be the thing that's interfering with your spells.  Also, if you look carefully, you will notice that the aura is chaotic.  Your spells may have worked on him before, but every time you use any sort of spell on him, you're taking a chance.  You could damage him worse.  Any of our spells based on order may damage him worse than it normally would.  But… If he were to learn how to control his power…  Well…  He may become a unstoppable demon of tremendous power.  The mage's bane I suppose."

"Wh-what?" Luna says with alarm.

"The chaos element is where all our spells were derived from.  The Elder Gods used the chaos spell, but even for them it was too much.  So they developed the magic that we use even today.  The spells use raw energy brought forth from Creation, the place where all life, even the gods were brought forth from.  The Order Spells are miniscule compared to the Chaos Spells, however…  We are the opposite from each other so are effective, but…  Nothing can compare to it."

"But… but Ranma doesn't have any magic abilities." Caine replied.  "He can't use any spells."

"That just means that he can't control it.  Hedge witches use power similar to this because they didn't have proper teachings. But even theirs are a mix of Order and Chaos. But…but to manifest the power this clearly…  He must be a monster."

"NO! Ranma…  Ranma isn't a monster.  He isn't.  He… he can't be." Luna said, depressed.

Nall became angry at Nash who made Luna sad.  Angrily he turns around and says,  "How do you know all this!?"

Nash at first started to become angry, however soon stopped as he saw Luna.  So he decided that for her sake, he would give her the doubt that she longed for.  He turns to Nall and say "Because I am the All Great Powerful and Beautiful magician!"

"That's not a reason you twit!" Saying this, Nall smacked him across the face.

Nash just shrugs to this.

Alex, who finally defeated the monster, comes down (forgot him for a moment didn't ya?) to the group.  "Hey guys, what's happening?  Why look so down?"  Alex was totally unprepared for the gloomy look in everyone's face.  After all, he just defeated the monster.

Nall, Luna, and Caine filled him in on what Nash said.  This quickly killed whatever elated feelings that Alex felt.  They took Ranma to the inn while the sailors went back to repairing their ship.  

Later in the night, Ranma woke up from his injuries only to find Luna sleeping by his bed.  It seems that she was watching Ranma throughout the night and finally fell asleep.  Ranma was still weak, but he had enough of his strength back to pick up Luna gently and lay her in the bed that he was sleeping in.  Then he covered her with a blanket and quietly left the room.

***

The next morning, the everyone wakes up early and walks outside for a little breeze.  They were surprised to find Ranma out there meditation.  Alex approached Ranma and tapped him on the shoulder saying, "Ranma?  Are you alright?"

Slowly, Ranma opens one of his eyes and looks at Alex.  "Just peachy"  Then he stands up and stretches out all the kinks in his body.  Then he looks around and sees that the group is ready to go.  "Well…  Shall we go then?"  Saying this, Ranma starts to walk to the ship, albeit slowly.

Luna concerned goes up to Ranma and says, "Ranma, you're not done healing yet.  You should rest more."

He turns around and gives Luna a smile.  Then he says, "Nah, I'm okay."

The group then slowly walk to the ship.  Once there, the captain greets them and shows them to their room.  Ramus, however starts to grumble at the fact that the rooms are third rate.  However nothing could be done about it since the paying customers had the privilege.  

Soon, they settle in and the ship starts on the journey.  And all seems to be going according to plan.  The group settles in and decides to catch some sleep.

Ranma decides to go look around the ship in the meantime and finds a tourist shop.  Here he looks through all the merchandise and decides to buy two bars of soap.  (hehehe. ^_^)  Then Ranma goes back and eat.

***

Later at night, when everyone seems to be sleeping, Alex wakes up.  He looks around and finds that both Luna and Ranma is gone.  Suspicious, and a sinking feeling in his tummy, Alex decides to investigates.

Nall, his ever-following companion, decides to follow.  When they walk outside, they finally find Luna.  Here, illuminated by the moon, Luna pours out her heart and feelings in the best way she knows how.  Through a song.

Wishing on a dream that seems far off…

Hoping it will come today…

Into the starlit night, 

Foolish dreamers turn their gaze…

Waiting on a shooting star…

But what if that star is not to come?

Will their dreams fade to nothing?

When the horizon darkens most…

We all need to believe there is hope.

Is an angel watching closely over me?

Can there be a guiding light, I've yet to see?

I know my heart should guide me but…

There's a hole within my soul.

What will fill this emptiness inside of me?

Am I to be satisfied without knowing?

I will, then for a chance to see,

I wish, then for a chance to see,

Now all I need… desperately

Is my star to come…?

Luna stops singing and just quietly stands there, thinking.  Alex who was about to go to her is stopped by Nall.  Then they both return to their room quietly and goes to sleep.

***

Ranma who also came out that night  sat on top of the cabin.  Because of the fact that Ranma was above Alex, and Alex right below Ranma,  they didn't notice each other.  Ranma had come out that night to think about his life in Nerima.  The past few days brought up a lot of the past memories that he thought buried forever.  But you can't escape the past, nor you memories.  

Feeling melancholy, all Ranma could do was think.  Then as he felt himself fall into depression, he heard a song.  Looking up, he saw Luna, and with the moon behind her, almost looked divine.  As she finished her song, Ranma thought about what her song meant to him.  When he came to an understanding, he stood up and clapped.

Luna, surprised that someone was looking, quickly turned around.  As she did so however, she lost her balance and fell from the crow's nest. (The top part of the pole on the ship.  The place where sailors stand in and shout land ho!)  Too shacked to even scream, all she could do was brace for impact.

Ranma jumped and caught her in pure instinct.  Adrenaline pumping his body, allowed him to make that move.  Luna held on to him tight with closed eyes,  however, when she didn't feel any painful impact, but rather a strong comforting grip, she opened one eye and saw Ranma looking down at her.

"Sorry Luna, I didn't mean to startle you."

"Ranma…"  Saying his name she looked into his eyes.  And this seemed to go on infinitely.  "Ranma…  You IDIOT!  I almost fell!"  Saying this she bopped him on the head.  Then laughed at his hurt puppy look and gave him a hug.  "But…  I'm glad you were there to catch me."

Ranma gently put her on the ground, then said, "Come on, let's go back to sleep now."  Saying this, both turned to go back into the cabin when Ranma's step faltered.  Groaning, he clutched at his ribs.

In alarm, Luna held Ranma up.  "Ranma!?  What's wrong?"  At his unresponsive answer, she called out his name again while shifting, Ranma to hold him better.  When she touched the place around his ribs while doing this, her hand came away sticky.. Wondering what it might be, she looked at it and realized that it was blood.  She didn't notice it earlier because of his traditional red shirt.

"Luna… Luna just… take me to my room."

"But your injuries!"

"It's okay.  Just…  just don't tell the guys about it."

"But…"

"Please."

Luna nodded her head in a helpless agreement and helped him to his room.  As she was walking to his room, she got the horrible sinking feeling that Ranma hurt himself as he was catching her.  

However, almost by magic as if he read her mind, Ranma said, "Luna, don't worry about it.  It wasn't because of you.  This… this happened before we got on the ship."

After saying that, Ranma had Luna go to bed and refused to let her see the injury.  As she was leaving, she saw Ranma getting the bandages ready.

***

The next day, Ranma, and rest of the group stands at the bow of the ship looking towards the horizon.  Then Nall shouts out, "Look, Meribia!"

Everyone comes up to the bow and looks ahead.  And indeed, there lay their destination.  Meribia.

Meribia is a commerce harbor city; they deal mainly in trade and fishing.  The contact with other cities made the city prosperous unlike the small village of Burg which was isolated.

            "Hey Alex!  We finally made it!" Ramus shouts with glee. No doubt thinking about all the money that he will soon have in his hands.  

            "Will you take a smell of that." Nall said as he takes a deep breath.  Nall seems to be in some sort of euphoria.  

            "Man, what is this smell!  Althena! It smells like fish!"  Ramus replies as he takes a tentative sniff.

            "I know." Caine drools out.  He almost looks like a newborn kitten first introduced to catnip.  Basically the same reaction you may get when you're high.  "Isn't it heavenly?"

            "Heavenl-!" Ramus bursts out but is interrupted by Ranma.

            "It's not so bad.  Almost like sushi.  I didn't have one of those in a long time." Ranma says out loud, thinking back during the times in Japan. 

            "Sushi?  Is that food?" Ramus asks eagerly.  Getting an affirmative nod from Ranma, he questions more eagerly.  "What type of food is it?"

            "Sushi?  Well it raw fish cut into tiny strips more or less.  It tastes the best when it's fresh."

            "Raw fish?" Luna says out loud wrinkling her nose.  "That seems kind of… unsanitary.  What if it has some sort of disease or something?"

            "Hey! Don't knock it till you try it." Ranma says out loud in a joking manner.  "It's not that bad. You get used to it after a while.  Then it starts to taste good.  Who knows, maybe even you'll like it."

            "Well count me out." Ramus says in a determined voice.

            "Hey come on Ramus… Maybe you'll like it.  Plus, lets not start another fight.  We're finally here in Meribia and everything."  Alex says in a tired voice.

            "Well, you don't have to worry about that chunko.  You could stand to lose a little weight.  Plus, who would invite you when I can eat with a cute girl like Luna here anyway."  Saying this, Ranma puts an arm around a now blushing Luna.  Behind him, you see Alex shooting glares into Ranma's back.  If looks could kill, well… let's say Ranma wouldn't be going to eat sushi anytime soon.

            "Ranma!" Alex shouts.  Hearing this, everyone turns to see what was wrong.

            "Yeah?"  Ranma asks in his usual clueless manner as he turns around to face Alex.

            Now, suddenly embarrassed at his outburst, Alex flushes and just says, "Well, lets go into town.  We can eat food there."  Hearing this, Ranma, Nall, Caine, and Ramus' stomach growls simultaneously.  Hearing this, everyone laughs and the mood lightens immediately.  As Alex watches everyone walking towards town laughing and talking animatedly, Alex now feels that he was worried for no reason.  After all, Ranma didn't like Luna THAT way did he?  Plus, Ranma knew how he felt about Luna.  Knowing this, Ranma wouldn't try to steal her away, right?  With these semi-assuring thoughts, Alex runs to catch up with the rest of the group.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:  I'm sorry that it didn't come out sooner.  But at least, it's long right?  Hope you guys enjoy the story.  Dragonmaster may come out slower.  I think I might start writing other stories now also.  Feedbacks are wanted.

Also for those of you sticklers, yes, I know that I didn't include the part where Luna decides not to go.  The reason for this is that I don't think I put in sufficient amount of emotion on Luna's insecurities as the game wanted to show.  (Sorry about that.)  If I just decided to have that scene, I think that many of the readers who aren't familiar with the Lunar Silver Star Story Complete would have been confused.  (The game also didn't show that much insecurities until the boat song.)  


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own LSSSC or Ranma 1/2... blah blah blah.

Dragonmaster: Chapter 6

As they enter Meribia, Nash speaks up, "Well here we are. Meribia and the greatest port city in the world. Now that I have escorted you hicks here safely I must go about my business. See ya!" With that he turns around and heads off without looking back and flicks a small salute.

Nall sputters and cry out, "YOU brought US here safely? And just exactly where are you going?"

"That, my furry flying cat, is none of your business." With that Nash disappears around the corner, leaving the group. Ranma and the others just looks at each other for a bit, then shrugs and quickly puts it out of their minds.

Shaking himself out of his daze, and not without considerable jiggling, Ramus turns towards them with that familiar glint of greed in his eyes. "Well, looks like I'm off too. Money waits for no man and the sooner I sell this rock, the sooner I get to make my dreams of rolling around in gold come true!" With that, Ramus waddle-runs towards the biggest shop he can find.

"Well, that leaves the five of us." Saying this, Ranma motions towards himself and the rest of the group. "What do you guys want to do now?"

Luna takes a deep breath and looks at the bustling city. "It's... so different here. Let's take a look around. It's our first time at a city this big. Right you guys?"

Alex nods in agreement, but Ranma just shrugs. Eh.. I guess it's big. Tokyo was bigger, but no need to tell them that. 

As they wander around looking at the shops and restaurants Ranma's stomach growls. Alex, Luna, Caine, and Nall all turns to look at him. Putting his hand behind his head, Ranma gives off an embarrassed laugh. "How 'bout we go eat now?"

Nall quickly joins in, "Yeah! I want some fish! Fish!" Quickly looking around, Nall finds the biggest restaurant and points at it. "Oooh that one looks nice. How about we eat there?"

Alex looks into the money pouch that they received for killing the Slimer from the captain says with a shrug, "Sure. Why not? We have plenty of money and splurging once in a while's not bad." Saying this, Alex, Luna, Caine and Nall both starts heading towards the restaurant. That is,until they notice that Ranma isn't following them.  
"What's wrong Ranma?"

Ranma motions them over and says, "Well, since this is your first time in a city and all, let me teach you guys something. Listen closely, I learned this with my pop during my years of training." Ranma points at the restaurant, bustling with sailors and pirates, "That is what we call a tourist trap. It's there to bring people like you guys who's not familiar with this place to eat at a place with sub-par food and high prices. Look, none of those people eating there are locals."

Continuing with his lecture, Ranma says, "If you want to find a good place to eat, you have to go into one of the small streets." Motioning, he leads his students towards a random small street. "We'll start here."

As they walk down the street, the stores begins to look... odd.  
Luna finally speaks up. "Umm.. Ranma? I don't see anyplace around here that even remotely looks like a place to eat."

A small sweat drop forms over his head. Laughing a bit, he says, "Umm.. well... I-"

Whatever he was about to say became interrupted by Caine shouting out, "Hey! Look. Isn't that Nash over there? It is! Who's that he's talking to?"

As they head over, the person speaking with Nash notices them. Indicating with the jerk of her chin, she asks, "Friends of yours Nash?"

Nash whirls around and lo and behold, it' his newfound friends. "What are you guys doing here?"

Alex answers, "We were looking around for somewhere to eat. What about you? And who's your friend?" Now that they came closer, they began to notice new details about the person. The woman, was dressed in long loose cloak, covering most of her figure, but her face showed a young woman with short cropped, almost page-like blond hair and a blue lightning tattoo below her right eye.

As Nash opens his mouth, the woman starts off by saying, "I'm a fortune teller. I-"

Abruptly, Ranma interrupts what she was going to say. "Sorry. No thanks. We don't have the money. We don't want whatever it is you're selling." With this, he herds everyone away,leaving the fortune teller with a stunned look on her face. A small shiver creeps up Ranma's back. Brrr... She reminds me of Nabiki...

As they walk away, Alex turns to Ranma and ask, "What was that all about?"

"Nothing. I just had a bad feeling about her." Then a knowing smile crosses Ranma's face. He leans over, close to Alex's ears and whispers, "What... you wanted your love fortune told or something?"

Alex yelps out, "RANMA!" Then as Luna looks at the two curiously, he quickly lowers his voice and shushes Ranma and gives him an annoyed look.

As they walked back to where they came from, a delicious, mouth-watering smell of roast duck and potatoes, along with seared fresh tuna wafts through the air. Both Nall's and Caine's eyes blanks out as they turn towards the source of the smell. Speaking in unison, they utter the word, "FISH" and floats towards the source of the smell.  
A massive mansion.

"Nall! Caine! Where are you two going?" Luna calls out. Quickly they chase after the two flying cats, but they reach them too late. Both of the animals slips through the window and into the mansion.

A high pitched voice calls out from the other side of the window. It's Nall. "Hey! You guys get in here. There's a mountain of food like you wouldn't believe!"

Ranma's eyes lights up at the mention of food. Quickly he climbs over the window and into the house. Luna grabs at him, but the call of hunger is just too much. Luna turns to Alex and finally Alex just shrugs and says, "When in Vane..." With that phrase, he clamors over the window also.

Luna gives off a small groan and slowly pulls herself up while quietly muttering, "We shouldn't be doing this... we shouldn't be doing this..."

When Luna climbs over, she saw Nall, Caine, and Ranma gorging themselves on someone else's food, while Alex was taking guilty bites here and there. All of a sudden, the door, to what was now obviously the dining room, slams open and a huge beastman enters the room. "Time for my lun-" The beastman abruptly cuts off what he was going to say and everything and everyone in the room seems to freeze in time. With Nall and Caine, their heads buried in the turkey, Ranma with a fistful of mashed potatoes, Alex in the process of grabbing for a biscuit, and finally Luna, one foot over the window sill, obviously in the process of climbing into the house.

An eternity passes in a blink of an eye, then the beastman roars and everyone jumps. The hulking man stomps over to Alex and gets in his face. "So... you thieves thought that you can climb into MY house and eat MY food and get away?"

Ranma opens his mouth to make some sort of retort or excuse quickly shuts his mouth again and becomes quiet. He just saw the man's features. Haired all over his body, the man had tufts of cat years and feline features that just screamed a lion's fury.

Alex looks around quickly and seeing no help coming quickly took control of the situation. "Umm.. We're sorry sir. We just came from Burg and we were looking around, when two of our... pets came into your window. We followed them in... and... I guess we got caught up by the food." He started off hesitant, but by the end of the excuse, he was looking the beastman straight in the eye.

The man considers Alex for a bit, then bursts our laughing. "I like you boy! But you still ate my lunch, so I'm going to have to see if there is anyway you can make up for that." With that, the man pauses to think for a bit, then slaps the table with a grin on his face. "Now that the food is gone, I say we need some sort of entertainment. What do you say to that?"

A small feeling of dread creeps into his stomach as Alex replies, "I guess we can do that..."

"Good. Then follow me." With that, he leads them down the hallway to another room. It turns out to be a large dojo, and the sick feeling in Alex's stomach doubles. A blind man can see what's coming next. The man reaches over and grabs a practice blade and tosses it over to Alex. "If you can put up a good fight, then I'll forget all about what you and you're friends did."

Seeing no way he can get out of it, he takes the blade and gets into a ready position. With Ranma, Luna, and the rest shouting tips and cheers, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, holds it in for a three count, then slowly exhales. "Alright. Let's get this over with."

An amused grin stretches across the man's face. Getting into a fighting position himself, he says, "Be glad boy! You have the honor of fighting Mel de Alkirk! One of the Four Heroes of the land. And if I'm impressed with you afterwards, I might ask you for yours! Now let's start!"

END OF CHAPTER 6

Author's Notes: For those who actually remembers or reads my stories here's the next chapter. It's pretty short and I decided to keep it that way. By trying to make it long, I end up doing revisions after revisions and then never put anything up. So expect frequent short chapters from now on.

Also, the storyline won't be following the game as closely as the previous chapters. That's because it's been a while since I played the game and it's fuzzy in my head. In a way, this is a good thing because it allows my stories to be more original. I remember someone commenting that I was following the story too closely.

Also, yeah I know. Some of the characters are becoming ooc from whichever storyline you guys are used to. This is in part the effect that Ranma has on those around him, and those around him affecting him.

Give me reviews or whatnot, just make it constructive instead of saying,  
"It sucks", "you suck", "I don't like it", "Go die", etc... 


	8. Chapter 7

-1Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½ or Lunar Silver Star Story Complete. If I did, I'm sure all of you would know it one way or another.

Dragonmaster: Chapter 7

As soon as Mel finishes talking, Alex rushes in and unleashes his greatest attack. "Sword Dance!" With a loud yell, his arms blurs and the practice blade becomes streaks of blue light as his ki surrounds the blade. A surprised look crosses Mel's face as he sees the sudden assault. Loud sounds of wood hitting flesh is heard repeatedly. After the final blow lands, Mel is thrown across the room and Alex leaps back to his starting position.

The room becomes quiet as they see one of the four legendary heroes lying on the ground after taking a hit from a boy who just seems to be in his teens. Alex continues looking at the fallen Mel, then he hears a cheer, starting from Nall and Caine, then spreading to the rest of his friends. Relieved that he beat Mel without taking and hurt, he turns around and raises his arm victoriously. But his celebration is cut short as he hears a laughter behind him. Slowly he turns around to see what he hopes he wouldn't see, but alas, luck is a fickle mistress.

A large guffawing laughter continues to come out from the facedown Mel. Slowly, Mel pulls himself up to his feet and cracks his neck. "You got me there boy. Never thought that you had that kind of move in ya." Mel turns around and goes up to the rack holding all sorts of practice blades and weapons. Looking at it thoughtfully, he continues to say, "Looks like I might have to take it a bit seriously… What's your name boy?"

Alex is a jumble of emotions. Happy that Mel recognizes, scared because Mel just stood up after being suckered Sword Danced, and embarrassed that he's receiving a load of attention from those looking at the fight. He replies with a clear voice, "I'm Alex of Burg sir."

"Alex of Burg…" Mel mutters. With that he seems to have made up his mind about what weapon to use. He grabs it off the rack and turns around. A manic grin spreads across his face and a disconcerting light glints from his eyes. Hefted in his right hand is a wooden model of a battle axe. "Now, it's for real." With that, Mel thunders down towards Alex with the axe raised over his head.

As he reaches Alex, he comes down with a fierce swing which is blocked by Alex. Yet, even blocking, Alex's body is lifted off and pushed back a couple of feet. Alex mind races and Ranma's voice flows through his head.

During one of their practice sessions back in the day, Alex froze up and Ranma easily won the bout. Later Ranma told him, "Here, let me tell you what my pop told me. If you don't have anywhere to go but forward, and you're trapped, then staying where you are will just get you caught."

"Your dad told you that?" Alex asked surprised. "I thought that you told me he was a no good lazy bum who sold you for whatever he could get his hands on…"

"He is. He told me this when we got cornered in an alley by cops and had to fight our way out….."

With those words in mind, he lunges forward before Mel could recover his balance with another Sword Dance. Once again, his blade flashes and Mel grunts in pain, but there is one difference this time. Mel doesn't get knocked back.

Grunting from pain after taking the hits, he grabs Alex before he can jump away. With the grin still on his face, he whispers, "Gotcha." With that, he hurls Alex to a wall. As Alex tries to get up from the stunning throw, Mel gallops towards Alex and upon reaching him, smashes him with the flat of his axe.

The wind gets knocked out of him and now, Alex is flat on his back with his mouth opening and closing like a fish on dry land. He sees a spinning world in which Ranma, Luna, and the rest are shouting at him to get up. Slowly with a force of will, he manages to stand up and turn around to face Mel… who isn't there. Then he sees the axe that Mel was using drop to his side and two large burly arms wrap around his waist.

"Here's what I call Hell Mel's Surprise!" With that, Alex is lifted off his feet and suplexed into the ground. With that, the world goes black.

Ranma and the rest quickly rush to Alex's prone body. Seeing him out cold, Ranma turns around and glares at Mel. "I can't believe that you would do that because of some turkey that he ate! You stingy bastard!" With that, he throws a kick to Mel's face. As Mel takes the kick and reaches out towards Ranma, Ranma quickly somersaults backwards, out of Mel's grasp.

"You're going to have to be faster than that old man!" With that, he rushes forward with a combination of kicks and punches. Surprisingly even under this heavy assault, Mel withstands it enough to grab Ranma in a bear hug.

Slowly, Mel squeezes Ranma as he tries to explain. "Look kid. - OW!- your buddy's not really hurt or anything. I -OW! Stop that!- was just having a friendly match you see?"

Clearly Ranma doesn't see as he takes a deep breath and yells out, "Katchuu Tenshin Amaguriken!" His arm blurs as Mel's face takes a beating. Quickly, Mel drops him and Ranma uses this to jump out of Mel's reach.

_Cant't use the frontal assault. Guess I'm gonna have to use THAT move on him._ "Are you sure that you're Hell Mel? I could barely feel that hug at all!" Ranma taunts. He starts hurling off insults faster than they can pop into his head as he evades Mel's attack. Even though the insults aren't pretty good, combined with the inability to hit him, Mel becomes enraged and is drawn into a familiar spiral.

Mel couldn't understand how Ranma was able to constantly avoid his attacks. As he became more angry, slowly each of his attacks became heavier and heavier with power until every time his fist hit a wall as Ranma evaded, it would leave large holes.

Just as Ranma is about to finish it off, he becomes distracted by Luna shouting out, "Ranma! It's fine. Alex just woke up!" Surprised, Ranma turns around to look at his friend.

"That's grea-!" Ranma never got to finish what he was saying as Mel's fist slams into his head and he goes flying into and through the wall, exiting on the other side, down a hill, into a bear pit, in which he is smashed out of, across town and into the women's bath. Understandably, he does not emerge from this conscious, which may be a lucky thing for him considering how much pain he's in.

End of chapter 7

Author's Notes: Well, I will end that here. It just seemed like a good place to stop. Hopefully as I get on a roll, the fic will get longer and longer. Sorry that it didn't have a lot of Ranma in it, but I felt that Ranma volunteering to fight a catlike Mel would be unlike him and meeting Mel, I felt, was semi-important.

Next, to answer some points given by Bloodeaver Alpha and those who may share the same views:

1) No, I did not use a magic amulet, a botched job by one of Ranma's many enemies, nor a bored god/goddess and the reason for this varies. All of those points mentioned have been done to death and frankly is no better than saying the Ranma got there by some mysterious means in which the reader at this current point in time does not know. Especially when it might become clearer as the story progresses or may be mentioned and explained further down the line.

2) No Ranma does not go off whistling into the sunset and as you may have noticed, that chapter had many time jumps. I was rushed to get into the meat of the story without having to bore myself and the readers with Ranma freaking out about how to get home to no avail. Instead, placing a running gag of him being afraid of cats were better since it helps to explain why he won't go into cat fist.

3) Yes, I have it so that Ranma is the vicar of chaos, but not in the common sense that most people use it as. The chaos in my story involves his aura, his spirit. NOT a way to give me a convenient way to use deus ex machina, which I feel is weak writing style (ie. I need a sword. Oh look, there's this sword conveniently placed here for me to use just when I need it. :or: I'm bored and I expect an enemy to pop out right about now. "RANMA! Prepare to die!").

Yes, it did follow the script fairly heavily, and still does, and in a sense still will. I am not going to go and change the storyline so that it becomes completely different. Lunar is written so that certain events triggers the next events and so forth. If I were to change it now, no doubt Ghaleon would win with no one to stand up to him.

Just why can't there be another fledgling? The dragons have to come from somewhere. And Nall exists when Quark is still around also. So why is it that there can't be another one? (Although in retrospect, giving Ranma a dragon was a bad idea considering that it's the dragon master who will be able to control ALL of the dragon's powers. But hey, I started this 5 years ago. Give me a break.) BTW, yes I have beaten the game. Both Lunar 1 and 2. Several times.

Well that's it for the comments and answers. If anyone has more questions or comments and so forth, put it in the review and I'll try to answer it. That is all.


End file.
